


His Tears, Her Shadow

by Sakumira_Agashi



Series: Love Me, Love Me Not [2]
Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Nostalgia, Reminiscing, Romance, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24272551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakumira_Agashi/pseuds/Sakumira_Agashi
Summary: Sequel to "The Child".The infamous Black Hat, he had found love, he had found his soulmate. But life is cruel, life is never forgiving, life never let one keep what they love, and life took her away from him. He thought he had been able to move on, until a certain woman was brought to his life, a woman bound to him by a debt.
Relationships: Black Hat & Dr. Flug (Villainous), Black Hat (Villainous)/Original Character(s), Black Hat/Dr. Flug (Villainous)
Series: Love Me, Love Me Not [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556338
Kudos: 23
Collections: Villainous





	1. The Rain

They say life is cruel. Never has it been forgiving to anyone. Never has it let anyone rest. Never has it given anyone a peaceful day without any worries. Never has it been beautiful.

They say life is a lie. Never has it been what one has expected it to be. Children, they see life as lights and rainbows. They see life as a world of fun, laughter, sympathy and harmony. They are too naive to see the harsh truth. They will soon realize that life was just a pit of darkness. They will soon see life as a world of sadness, cries, coldness and betrayal. And when that happens, it will be all too late. The old one will pass on, the young one will be born, and it will be just an endless cycle.

They say life is unfair. Never had it been fair. Never had it given anyone what they wanted. Never had it let anyone kept what they loved. It would take everything away, leaving one with suffering, and just suffering alone.

No one is safe.

No one is safe from the suffering.

Everyone will have to suffer.

Everyone will have to fall. Fall painfully and harshly.

Just like the heavy rain that was now pouring down the eldritch in black.

Black Hat, like a mighty villain himself, had never cared less about life. He knew life was cruel, he knew life was unfair, he knew life was just a big lie, but he never minded. Beside, he had been conflicting pain on others for millions of decades already. He had been enjoying the sight of his enemies suffering, falling to the ground as their last breathe left them or standing there in helplessness as their loved ones were all gone. But he would just laugh it off in the most mocking way possible, laugh it off like it was the funniest joke in the whole universe. Their expression was too priceless to not laugh at. Their words were too pathetic to not laugh at.

Just like that, he also couldn't care less about time. "Time never waits anyone, so always try to make the best of it while you can", they say. But to Black Hat, he would just let out a scornful chuckle if anyone ever used that saying to "teach" him. No one teach _the_ Black Hat, especially with those overused words. He never had to worry about time, because he was immortal. He would live on forever, which gave him all the time to do anything, including conquering the world, an achievement he had already reached. He had lived through many centuries, from medieval time to the modern age. He had seen the wars arise, the world evolve, the technology advance, and so on. He had seen many things some mortal couldn't see, because by the time it happened, they were no longer in this world.

He used to laugh at mortal for their limited life span… until now.

He never knew the definition of time, he never knew the definition of emotions, until she made her appearance in his life. With many things he had once thought to be ridiculous, she had proven them to be true. She had proven that anyone could have feelings, even a ruthless villain like him. She had proven that anyone could fall in love, even a heartless eldritch like him. She had proven that true love existed, which was something he had thought to be made up. His wife Fluggie, she was an incredible woman, the most incredible woman he had ever had the pleasure to meet.

The people who were head over heels for him, they were extremely jealous of Fluggie, and would use excuses like "she has nothing special!", "she is a weirdo!", "she is ugly and not talented!", "she must have some tricks to manipulate him!", etcetera… to bash on his wife, like what Miss Julianna had said when he had revealed his marriage to the public. To be honest, from the first glance, everyone would think that she was just a plain human, saved for the paper bag she always wore. She had a typical looks with no supernatural feature, really, but Black Hat was the first one to ever find out her true beauty, and he felt lucky to have done so. Her deep blue eyes, long dark eyelashes, rosy cheeks and lips, perfectly curved jawline,… she was gorgeous in any way, so gorgeous that even the many scars on her face and body, the scars he had kissed over and over again, couldn't make her any less attractive.

Her haters were wrong enough about her appearance, and they were even more wrong when they said she had no talent. Only the most brilliant minds could prove worthy to Black Hat, and when she was able to keep working for him for many years, it was enough to say that she had the skills required to be useful in his eyes. Her creations were what kept his business running even though he really didn't care about the downfall of his business, as it was founded just out of boredom anyway. But she was talented nonetheless.

With all of that, it didn't take a genius to say that he was madly in love with her. He loved her to the bottom of his heart, with every inch of his being. He wanted the best for her, to make her happy in every second, to protect her at all cost.

She was his lover, his soulmate, his dearest, his joy, his treasure, his obsession, his everything.

So at this very moment, thinking back, he finally understood the saying "life never gives anyone what they want".

Looking up, Black Hat only saw darkness. Pitch dark sky, pitch dark clouds, pitch dark everything with no sign of any light, just like his life, hopes and dreams. Each drop of rain was heavy, harsh and painful on his skin, but he didn't care. Comparing to the emptiness in his heart, no pain could ever be as hurtful. Gently putting his hand onto the surface of the tree beside him, he gazed absentmindedly out to the cityscape in front. This place, this very place up at the tip of the hill, it had always had a great view, but rarely anyone knew about it. He had taken his wife here, and she loved it at the very first moment she came to it, just like he had expected.

This place, this very place that overlooked the city, it'd used to be very beautiful in his eyes, but now, it was nothing but a dreaded place of memories. When she had still been with him, standing beside him with her arms wrapped around one of his own, the scenery had seemed to always be full of bright sunshine. But now, in front of him was just an eerie view full of black clouds covering the entire sky, and the heavy rain made the view barely visible. In front of him was just a dead place that had once been a magnificent view.

It was nothing more than a cursed place to him, yet he kept coming here unconsciously even though he knew he must not revisit the memories.

Suddenly, the raindrops stopped falling onto him, and when he looked up, he saw a white umbrella on top of him, shielding him away from the rain. Not needing to look over to his left, he knew exactly who was holding the umbrella.

"You don't need to be here, White."

His twin sighed. "I don't need to be here, but I need to be with you."

"And you know exactly where to look for me?"

White Hat was silent for a while, trying to think of a logical answer. "Well, you…"

"… have said that this place was one of her favorite?"

Black Hat finished his twin's sentence, and the twin in question bit his lips as if feeling guilty of having brought that up. Black Hat just let out another long sigh, looking out of the city again in hopelessness. His brother looked at him with his troubled eyes before following suit, the two of them standing there in silence under the rain. The rain, it still hadn't gone away, still falling hard on the surface of the umbrella, emitting a loud sound as each drop made contact with it. White Hat, he had always been quite annoying and obnoxious to Black Hat, but at times like this, he was extremely calm and collected, much to the twin in black's surprise.

White was calm and collected when he had tried to comfort Black, making him move on from her sudden loss.

"It's been… eight hundred years, hasn't it?"

Black said, voice as cold as ice.

Eight hundred years had never felt so long until the fateful day when he had lost her forever.


	2. Incomplete

"Come in."

Black Hat said as three knocks on the door to his office were heard, eyes turning away from the piece of paper on his desk. A click was sounded, and appeared behind the double doors was a tall man with pale white skin. His long dark ponytail was tied low at the back of his head and it hung in front of his chest, swaying along with his white lab coat as he took each step toward Black Hat's desk, his heels making small clanking sounds on the floor in the process.

The eldritch in black put his pen down and crossed his fingers together on his desk, looking the demon scientist and his crimson red eyes with black sclera. Along with the cracks on his skin, his eyes made him look inhuman despite his human-like body structure, the eyes which were looking at Black Hat as he walked toward him.

"You're back, Lord Black Hat." The scientist said with a blueprint held in his arms. "I was looking for you. Where have you been, sir?"

Black Hat didn't answer, and his employee spoke up after a few seconds of silence. "I guess it's that place that you never tell me about?" Hearing no answer again, he sighed. "I'm sorry for prying, sir."

"No need to apologize, Ermano." Black Hat said. "So, what is it that you were looking for me?"

"Well, sir, I need you to approve this design for me."

Ermano replied as he unrolled the blueprint and put it on his boss's desk. The eldritch put his hand on his chin and gave it a good look, thinking very thoughtfully to himself as he took in every small detail of the machine. He finally answered after a few minutes.

"This looks good to me." He looked up at the scientist. "Now go make it. We're filming a commercial next Saturday."

"Yes, Mr. Black Hat, sir. I'll be taking my leave then."

Ermano said as he rolled up the blueprint, seeing that his boss had already picked up the pen and was now reading the contract in front of him again. He looked at the eldritch in black for a while before turning around to head to the doors, opening one of them. Before closing it shut behind him, he had taken another quick look at his boss and still saw that cold, emotionless expression on his face, which he then sighed again.

Black Hat, he had always known as an infamous, undefeatable villain, the incarnate of all evil forms, so it was understandable that Ermano had heard of him million of times, though he hadn't actually seen him in person until he studied in his previous scientist's class, Doctor Fluggie Slys's. From when he was little, he had always wanted to be a mad scientist, so he decided to take Dr. Slys's course, which was incredibly difficult to get into, given how high Black Hat's standards were. Many people had said that Dr. Slys looked kind of plain and not like an actual villain herself, but she had a very sadistic side to her that was rarely seen, and that theory was confirmed to be true when he took her course and actually interacted with her. She was pretty friendly, and was willing to answer any questions that her students had. But there are moments where her villainous side made its appearance, like when she was explaining the strategies to defeat a hero in the most painful way possible, and one of her eyes would sometimes even glow a bright red.

Ermano was one of her best students, so she and he were pretty close and they talked pretty often, although Black Hat's glare on him was pretty scary, the glare he had given him whenever he appeared in the middle of his conversation with his professor. Even though he didn't feel afraid or terrified, he still had no idea why Lord Black Hat had looked at him like that until the man in question revealed his marriage with his professor three years after he graduated. That was when he realized why: Dr. Slys was his girlfriend, and given how possessive Black Hat could get, he wouldn't let anyone lay a dirty move on her.

After eight years of working as a freelancer, Black Hat suddenly made an announcement saying that a position in his organization is open for scientists and inventors alike, and it was all over the news, magazines, newspapers,... basically all the medium you can list. Though Ermano did question why Black Hat wanted to hire another scientist. Dr. Fluggie Hat had worked for him for many years straight without any helping hand, so why did he suddenly need another one? He had thought about it for a long while, but then decided to forget about it, as it was none of his concerns.

Of course, millions of people competed with every inch of their being to get that position, but no one was suitable enough. Seeing the news that all the applications were rejected, Ermano felt kind of afraid to send in his own application, but he did anyway, telling himself that it was worth a shot even though the chance was very slim. So, to his surprise, as well as his family's, Black Hat decided to hire him after a very long and nerve-wrecking interview.

Despite the joy that could seem to last forever, he did wonder where Dr. Fluggie Hat was, as he had expected her to show up in the interview with Black Hat. But once more, he just shrugged it off, convincing himself that maybe she was busy or Black Hat didn't want his wife's opinions to affect his, given that Ermano had once been her student. The day when he finally moved in the manor and officially started working for Black Hat, he was super excited, because not only did he earn the title of being the infamous eldritch's scientist, but he also got to work alongside Dr. Hat as her coworker!

But then, he couldn't see her anywhere. Giving him a tour around the manor was a crazy lizard girl and a giant blue bear, but his professor was nowhere in sight. He had waited patiently until the tour ended, and when he still couldn't find her, he decided to ask Demencia, the lizard girl, about the whereabouts of the doctor.

Then, out of the blue, Demencia shut his question up right away by covering his mouth, turning her head to and fro to check something. 5.0.5, the blue bear, followed suit, covering his mouth with his paws and looked around. And when he had questioned their strange behavior, she hissed, telling him to lower his voice down. To his surprise, such a crazy and reckless girl like her could actually be scared of something.

Ermano then received his answer, and upon hearing it, his whole body froze. _"She's gone, and she's never returning back",_ Demencia's words were still etched in his mind, but until now, he never got an explanation. Demencia said that it was a long story, and she didn't want to recall it anyway. But then, when he was about to drop the topic, she made him _swear_ that he'd never bring this up whenever his new boss was near, but Ermano had known that already. Dr. Fluggie Hat was his wife, and in fact, she was the wife of a man who was supposedly to be emotionless and was in no need for love. So being reminded of her loss would be a huge mistake, as it would awaken his inner demonic power.

Ermano lightly shook his head, pushing away the flashback as he proceeded to head to his lab.

* * *

After hearing the sound of the door closing, Black Hat sighed as he leaned his back against his chair. He had always been that type of man who chose to indulge himself in work, but sometimes it could be exhausting. And today was just another regular day with nothing particularly noticeable. He would go through stacks of paperworks, Ermanon would come report his work process if needed, and Demencia would just run and jump all over the manor, maybe destroy some things in the process, which 5.0.5 would rush to it and clean up.

Honestly, his life now was just a continuous chain of meaningless hours. Ermano was like him, having a habit to work efficiently without a single failure, but he certainly missed the explosion sounds that would sometimes emit from the lab after a failed experience, or the occasional crashing noise that could be heard all the way to space.

Ermano was a calm young man and didn't get irritated easily by Demencia's mischievous tricks and pranks, but the whole manor felt so scarily quiet when he no longer heard the complaining words of annoyance from his previous scientist and the arguing of the two women in the middle of a fight.

He didn't need sleep, so at night when he was exhausted or simply had nothing better to do, he would lay there alone on his bed, staring at the empty space beside him where a certain woman had once laid. Every time he walked into the lab, he would either find Ermano focusing on his inventions or an empty room when he had gone to bed. So, it was heartbreaking when he didn't see the sight of a beautiful human already asleep at her workbench, which he would sigh and carried her to their bedroom, silently blaming her for not taking care of herself.

Ermano only came to his office for work related things, Demencia was there to annoy him a little when she was bored, and 5.0.5 only entered it when the room needed cleaning, making Black Hat miss it when his children ran up to his desk, telling him to go play with them, which he would just secretly smile before deciding that he should take a break. And just like that, he desperately wanted to see once more the sight of his children running up to their loving mother as she gave them a warm embrace…

Black Hat sighed, burying his face deep into his palm as he tried to push those images to the farthest reach of his mind, cursing them for coming back all of the sudden. He hated it when that happened, because by the time he had finally been able to move on, he felt like every bit of his strength had drained away. So he couldn't afford to let those memories to just rush back and torture him.

_How ironic_ , he though, chuckling lowly. He had tortured so many poor souls, and now it was him who was tortured by his own past. _How ironic and_ _ **pathetic.**_

Letting out yet another long and heavy sigh, he straightened his posture again, deciding that it would be more productive to work rather than spending his time thinking about it and weighing his mind down even more. He looked through the stacks of paperwork he was currently working on before something else caught his eyes. Underneath the stack was a piece of paper sticking out, making it very noticeable and grabbing the eldritch's attention. He took it and gave it a look before realizing that it was a forgotten list of his debtors. How it ended up there was quite questionable, but he figured that he must have been so busy with paperwork that the stacks just kept piling up and shielding it away. Many names had been crossed out except for a few ones, but those were the people who had just taken out a loan recently, so they were still good. But when he looked further down the list, one name caught his attention and made his eyes stop glancing downward.

"Luis Alvizo…"

Black Hat furrowed his eyebrows, thinking of why that name sounded so distinguishable among the rest until he saw the date and a number written beside the name. He always wrote down the amount of money the debtor borrowed, along with the date when the loan was taken out. His eyes narrowed and on his face was a frown when he saw that Luis owed him ten million dollars along with twenty years of interest. _This man must have some guts to owe me this much money for_ _ **twenty years**_ _straight,_ Black Hat thought as he clicked his tongue, putting the list down onto his desk before a wide grin spread across his face, his green sharp teeth showing.

"I haven't tasted fear for a while, and things had been pretty mediocre for a while, anyway."

He chuckled darkly, intertwining his fingers together as his eye glowed, the devilish grin never leaving his grin.

"Time to pay Mr. Alvizo a visit, it seems."


	3. The Deed Is Done

The sun was shining brightly, the sky was a clear blue, the clouds were pure white and fluffy as they flowed softly, the wind was chilly and cool… Anyone would find this day pleasant, perfect for a trip outside,. For example, a picnic in the middle of a field full of fresh green grass and beautifully blooming flowers, a pretty field just like the huge backyard of a big mansion where a man in his late forties was sitting, taking in a deep breath. He was clearly enjoying the weather, smiling and enjoying his morning tea as he took each small sip. Things had been a little rough for him for a long time. He had been working and worrying non-stop, so he rarely got to enjoy his day like today.

"Nice day, isn't it, Dad?" A young man said, smiling as he walked up to his dad, his blond hair flowing with the wind and his amber eyes gleaming.

The older man turned back to look at his son and returned the smile. "It is. The weather is indeed perfect today."

His son had reached where he was sitting, putting his hand on the back of the chair and taking in a deep breath as well. He complimented the blue sky and his dad did the same, talking about how relaxed he felt. Surely nothing could go wrong today.

As the maid standing beside the older man poured him another cup of tea, the doorbell rang loudly. But they paid no mind, because another maid had already rushed to answer it. But what they didn't expect was the loud yell that followed after.

"Audrey?" The maid that was serving the old man turned her attention toward the direction of the door, feeling confused for a few seconds before something clicked inside her mind. And without giving it a second thought, she put down the teapot she was holding, completely abandoning it as she hurried to her co-worker.

"Charlotte- Wait!" The young man gasped before calling after his maid, but she didn't listen and kept on running until she was out of his sight. The father and the son just froze, not knowing what was happening. "D- Dad, do you have any idea why they're like that?"

"No. Not a single one." The older man said before putting down his teacup and standing up from his chair. "Let's go see what it is."

The dad really had no idea what was going on before he had finally arrived at the main entrance, his eyes widening, showing the blood shots in them and the fear hidden inside them. In front of them were two frightened maids, their body noticeably shaking and their lips letting out small whimpers as they held tightly on each other, their eyes focusing on the tall man standing at the double doors. On that man's face was his iconic wide, toothy grin, his trench coat flowing, his top hat standing high and his monocle gleaming brightly.

"It's a huge pleasure meeting you again, _Mr. Alvizo._ "

The old man snapped out of his frozen state and stuttered at the mention of his name. "L- Lord B- Black Hat!"

Black Hat's grin got even wider as Luis collapsed in his son's arms. "Ah, Adrian, you've grown so much ever since I first saw you ten years ago. A fine adult man indeed."

Adrian ignored the eldritch's greeting and stared at him, sweats starting to roll down his face. "What do you want, Mr. Black Hat?"

Black Hat raised an eyebrow, as if in disbelief. "I thought that the son of Luis Alvizo should be smart enough to know that already."

Adrian gulped, not saying anything as he held his father tightly, trying to help him stand straight without falling to the floor beneath them which had ran cold all of the sudden. Maybe it was due to the eerie feel that was emitting from the infamous eldritch, the feel that was running down the old man and his son's spines. Black Hat grinned, slowly walking up to them, ignoring the two maids whose knees had collapsed and who were now sitting on the floor, gripping each other tightly and not daring let go.

"I'm sure you know your dad's situation here, as well as your own." Black Hat approached them with each unhurried steps. "Luis Alvizo, he was a successful billionaire until his company, Alvizo Tech Inc., went bankrupted. So, unable to keep going on his own, he came to me and took out a loan with the evidence _right here._ "

As Black Hat emphasized on the words, he snapped his fingers and the list of his debtors appeared out of thin air, rolling until the name of the man was in sight, making Adrian gulped and Luis shuddered. "So, as you can see, he owes me ten million dollars, not taking the _twenty-years of interest_ into account. Shall I explain further, or have you understood-"

"M- Mr. Black Hat!"

The eldritch was cut off, and all the eyes were on the woman about Luis's age, standing behind the corner of one of the hallway. Her body was shaking as well, hand gripping the wall, and brown eyes filled with fear. Black Hat recognized her, and he turned his attention away from her family, smiling at her, which seemed to make her scared even more. She must have been standing there since the very beginning, but felt too afraid to speak up until the man with the top hat approached the two men, glooming over them like a threat waiting to devour them all.

"Valerie!"

The woman rushed to her husband's side as he shouted her name, kneeling down and bowed her head right in front of the eldritch who was silently watching her every movement.

"Hello again, Mrs. Alvizo."

Ignoring the sarcastic greeting, Valerie "P- Please! Please, Lord Black Hat, g- give us some more time!"

Black Hat chuckled darkly. "As far as I can remember, your husband said the same thing ten years ago when I came to collect the money."

The woman trembled even more, her hands noticeably shaking out of pure fear. "P- Please, I b- beg you! I'll do anything! _We'll_ do anything for more time to fully pay off the debt!"

" _Anything?_ "

Black Hat emphasized the word once again, and the deadly tone in his voice had, for a second, made the old woman regret her words choice. He stared down at her and her family, his body glooming and his eyes the combination of all the evilest, scariest and most terrible things one could ever imagine. His iconic grin returned, but this time in a more horrifying and nightmarish way.

"Let me see here…" He returned to his less scary form, rubbing his chin, averting his gaze and pretending to think, as he already had the answer in his mind. "Give me the most valuable treasure you have and I'll erase the _entire_ debt."

"Oh yes, _yes_!" Luis beamed, as if the liveliness had returned to him. "I'll give you any treasure you want! Gold, silver, jewelries,… you name it! Just tell me and I'll find-"

"Hush, Luis." Black Hat chuckled. "You clearly didn't catch what my words meant there."

"W- What are you implying…?" Luis's voice shook. If those things he just listed weren't what the eldritch wanted, then what else could he think of?

"By 'treasure', I don't mean those plain, tasteless material stuffs." Black Hat laughed. "Oh how funny that you think I, Black Hat, could ever want those rubbishes when I have a literal mountain of money. Such a _great_ sense of humor you have there, Mr. Alvizo."

His laughter filled the house with its dark tone, giving everyone the chill that went through their entire body. He then leaned down the poor woman who was still trembling and mumbling meaningless words of nothingness.

"I want a _living being_ in my possession, a _person_ who is the most precious to you, a _person_ who you can't live without."

The colors from Valerie's face seemed to fade away completely as soon as she heard the word "person". "No… No, y- you don't mean… You…"

Black Hat straightened his posture, but his eyes were still on the shaking woman, hands behind his back and his devilish smirk still wide.

"You're definitely smarter than your stupid husband back there, Mrs. Alvizo."

He said, gaze turning away from her and landed on the blond young man.

" _No!_ No, you _**can't!**_ " Valerie practically shouted as she leaned forward, hands gripping the devil's legs, eyes shedding tears. " _Please!_ I _beg_ you! Please don't take my son away! He's- He's my _everything_!"

"That's the whole point, missus." Black Hat said, chuckling as he watched her grief and beg beneath him. "I take your treasure, and your husband's name will be guaranteed to be crossed out from my list."

"B- But-!"

Black Hat was about to mock her and sarcastically feel sorry for her, until…

"W- What's going on there?"

An unfamiliar voice spoke up from the house, following the sounds of heels quietly making clanking sound on the floor. The footsteps got louder as each second passed by, and soon, appeared behind the wall was a young woman whom Black Hat himself hadn't seen before. He knew she definitely wasn't a maid because of the way she dressed. The maids in this mansion were all in a simple and plain long-sleeved blue dress that reached their shins, as well as a white apron in front. But this new girl… her outfit was really different. She was dressed in a more complex, off-shoulder, baby blue dress that only reached her mid-thighs and barely touched her knees, exposing her long, slim legs, the bottom part of the dress slightly flaring out. Underneath the dress was a high-collared blouse, and around her small waist was a white belt, ending with a big bow behind her back.

But what truly grabbed the eldritch's attention was her mask, a white, asymmetrical mask that covered the upper half of her face along with her right cheek. It's a pretty interesting thing that she had, though he didn't really know the purpose of it.

"A- Adrian? Mister and missus Alvizo?" The woman in question mumbled quietly, as if in shock upon seeing the sight in front of her. "Audrey? C- Charlotte? W- What…"

Grinning, he ignored everyone else and slowly walked toward her, even after he had noticed Adrian's face that had run pale as if he had seen a ghost, which the eldritch didn't bother to find out why. Now standing in front of the unfamiliar woman, on his face was yet another grin which wasn't really welcoming just like always. Black Hat looked down the woman who was looking up at him, her lips trembling and hands gripping her chest, too afraid to even move her small feet in blue heels. The eldritch looked into her pair of green eyes, and he narrowed his own. He didn't know why, but those eyes… those curious eyes which were filled with uncertainty and fear, they made him… uncomfortable. Maybe it was the color. He had never minded green, just like he had with any other color, but something about the green of her eyes was… unnatural. Those eyes, they honestly made him have mixed feelings, uneasy even, but he decided to push that matter away, as it was none of his concerns.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" He asked in his deep, low voice, hand raising up and grabbing her chin. She let out a small yelp and flinched back a little , her long dark hair that reached her mid-back swayed slightly along with her sudden movement.

"Don't touch her!"

Adrian finally spoke up after keeping his mouth for the whole time. Black Hat glanced back at him slowly in a creepy way, making the young man regret his aggressive tone immediately.

"What did you just say?"

"P- Please…" Adrian's voice quieted down. "She… She…"

"Hmm?" Black Hat raised his voice a little, seemingly interested. "Who is she that you're being so worried about another man touching her?"

"She's…" Adrian lowered his voice down even more, as if not wanting to answer the question. "She's my fiancé."

Black Hat raised an eyebrow. To be completely honest, he had expected her to be the billionaire's new daughter.

Fiancé… That word kind of made him think a little. Fiancé was a person whom one was going to marry. The word really made him recall some memories that he had wished to forget about. His previous scientist, she had been his fiancé before their wedding, which officially made them a married couple. He could still remember clearly the tears shedding from the corner of her eyes, the tears that had glimmered under the bright moonlight, the tears that he had happily wiped away before putting the ring on her hand and pulling her into a tight embrace.

He had made her his fiancé because he had loved her dearly, because she was his world, because he wanted to spend his life living with her as her beloved husband, to live a peaceful life with her, the most beautiful woman he could have ever had. Adrian, he must have felt the same if he had chosen this girl to be his fiancé.

Something clicked in his mind after that last thought, and he grinned widely.

"Fiancé, huh?" He chuckled, letting go of the woman's chin and returning his attention back at the family in debt. "Does that mean you're going to marry her?"

Adrian raised an eyebrow at that question, but slowly nodded anyway. "Y- Yes."

"Does that mean you want the rest of your life with her?"

"Yes…"

"Does that mean you love her very much?"

"Yes."

"Does that mean she's the woman of your dream?"

Adrian started to sweat as he began to catch on about what the eldritch was getting at with this series of questions, but he still wasn't sure himself.

"Yes."

"Does that mean she's your _most valuable treasure?_ "

The billionaire's son had, for a split second, thought that his heart had forever stopped beating, his face beginning to turn pale until there was no colors left, hands trembling and almost letting go of his dad. That last question coming from his dad's creditor had officially confirmed his suspicion, and he stared at the man in question in disbelief.

"No…" He shook his head continuously. "No, no way…! You- You- You're not serious about-"

"Oh Adrian, young Adrian, I _am._ " The grin on Black Hat's face didn't seem to fade at all, filled with the satisfaction of seeing fear and pain from the blond man's eyes. "Isn't it obvious already?"

"No- No you can't!" Adrian exclaimed, his voice sounding hurt. "She's- Riona, she-"

"Riona? That's her name, right?" Black Hat raised an eyebrow, still smiling as he turned his attention back to the young masked woman. "I have been meaning to ask. It'd be rude if I didn't know her name when _she's coming with me._ "

The billionaire's son's heart sank even more after the last remark. The eldritch definitely wasn't joking, and he had wished that he had, wished that this had just been a prank, even if it had been a very terrible and not funny one. He would really prefer it to have been that way, but he guessed that his wish wouldn't happen anytime soon. He bit his lips as he gripped his dad, who was still clutching on him. He loved his dad, really. He loved him very much. But this was too much.

"Oh please, blame me not." Black Hat put one hand onto his chest, arching it as he put the other one behind his back in a very elite manner. "I'm just here to collect the debt your own _father_ has owed me up to this point."

Black Hat's words seemed to have stabbed into Adrian's heart even more, right when the young man was still thinking if he should blame his dad for this.

"P- Please…" He said, looking up with eyes that were on the verge of tears. "Can't it be anything else…? I… I can't take this…"

"Sorry young man, beggars can't be choosers." The devil chuckled. "Would you rather live without her, or live with the fact that your family is still in a debt that will linger with you even after your _death?_ "

Adrian bit his lips again when he heard his mother's voice.

"Adrian, dear…" She said, looking up at him. "Please, I know you don't want this, but think for our family…"

The blond man thought for a few more seconds before taking in a deep breath, trying to keep the tears from falling. He had no other choice. _They_ had no other choice.

"Deal?"

"Deal."

Black Hat let out a dark and demonic chuckle, filling the whole mansion with it once again. Such one single simple word could make him feel so good, so _satisfied,_ just like how it could make the young man so pained and hurt.

"D- Does that mean…"

The young woman standing behind him whimpered, catching the eldritch attention's again. She had been so quiet this whole time that he almost forgot that she was there. Turning around, he saw her clutching her chest, her body shaking and her rosy lips trembling, her eyes looking at him like a devil about to grab her and take her far away from her home, which he really was. He looked down at her again, catching the fear in her eyes once more as he lightly laughed.

"Ah, it looks like you have caught on the situation." He said.

"Adrian…" She looked over his side to talk to her fiancé. "Why… Why didn't you tell me about this…?"

He didn't answer her, glancing away instead to avoid her eyes, the pair of the green eyes which were filled with shock and disbelief.

"Young lady…" Black Hat spoke up after he had seen that the blond man had nothing to say. "I'd like to know your full name, please."

"W- Why?" Her voice was so quiet that it almost sounded like a whisper.

"A few words wouldn't hurt, would it?"

She bit her lips, averting her gaze as she fiddled with her fingers, thinking of something before looking back at him again. "Riona Flores."

"Miss Riona Flores…" He spoke up again, straightening his back. "From now on, you are going to be my new employee. Do you object to it?"

It wasn't like she had any other option. Sure, she could object, as she wasn't blood related to them in any way, but she couldn't stand living with her in laws after their own son had been taken away. It would be a very horrible and uncomfortable experience when she had to be under the same roof as the two people who always wanted her dead for not sacrificing herself for Adrian, or they could even drug her and take her away to replace him with her. She had nothing for them to keep. She wasn't their daughter or relative. She was nothing to them when she was no longer their son's fiancé, and they would be ready to abandon her at any second even if she had no other family to go to. Going to this scary eldritch's place was probably better than wandering around the streets. At least she had a somewhere to stay.

"I don't."

"Excellent."

Chuckling, he snapped his fingers and once again, appeared from thin air was a roll of paper, but this one was shorter, which he held in his hand for Riona to see. Taking a closer look, it appeared that it was a contract of his organization, and he snapped his fingers again, summoning a very fancy-looking pen before holding it out for her to take.

"Would you please sign this contract for me, Miss Riona?"

The moment she had taken the black pen in her hand, seeing the blood red ink flowing from its sharp tip, she had known that this was it.

Once she was finished, he turned the front of the contract to him, getting ready to say something before knitting his eyebrows when he saw her handwriting. It looked very neat and clean, very nice to look at, but the way each letter looked really made him think for a few seconds there. It was as if he had seen it before, but it didn't look familiar enough for him to pin-point whose it was. It couldn't have been Ermano's writing, because it was a little messier. Maybe he had mistaken it for one of his clients', though he didn't know why. He had never looked closely at his clients' handwriting before.

"Welcome to Black Hat Organization, Riona Flores." He chuckled, extending his hand out for her to shake, but was left hanging there. She was probably still trying to get over this whole thing.

Turning back, he, once again, snapped his fingers.

"Hatbot?"

As soon as he finished, they all heard loud footsteps before a giant robot made its appearance, slamming the double doors open and making the whole house shake, the two maids screaming. It had Black Hat's appearance and was huge, so huge that it almost broke the entrance. Without turning back, Black Hat spoke up again, as if the loud sound was normal to him.

"Where's her room, Adrian?"

The man in question did not want to answer that question at all. He didn't even want to talk right now, but he guessed that he had to. Giving the direction to his fiancé room, he was forced to just stand there and look as the robot stomped its way out of their sight before returning with her belongings. Nodding, Black Hat turned to look at his new employee.

"Shall we go, Riona?"

The young woman quietly nodded as she followed behind Black Hat just like as if she had already known what she should do, her head hung low as her hair fell down the side of her face and her heels making small clanking noise. She walked slowly, staring down the floor, not daring look at her fiancé and her in-laws, as well as her two friends who quietly said her name as she passed by them. She tried to pay them no mind, following her new boss's steps until she stopped. Black Hat suddenly stilled his feet when they had reached the entrance, and she didn't know why.

Without any warning, green magic glowed around her ring and slipped it out of her finger before she could hold it back. Then, in a matter of seconds, it was thrown behind her and landed on the floor right in front of her no-longer fiancé.

"I don't think you no longer need it, Riona, so let him have it." Black Hat said, glancing behind him at her then at the family still in shock. "Well, Mr. Alvizo, the deed is done."

When Black Hat had looked back, he had caught the hurtful look on Adrian face as he knelt on the floor, eyes squeezing shut and tears landing on the ring that had used to be on his woman's finger. _Pathetic,_ he thought as he let out a small tch. He couldn't believe that the blond man was getting that sad over this whole thing.

Sure, his love was taken away, but at least she was still in this world.


	4. Nice to Meet You

It was one of those days when Ermano was absolutely delighted when he heard the sound of the door opening, followed by the sound that indicated his boss had returned to the Manor. During his entire lifetime of 267 years, he had never been more paranoid of a certain lizard girl sneaking up behind him and ready to tackle him at any given second, which she had already done. Ever since high school, he had always been admired for his fast reflexes and his sharp sixth sense, and even he could barely dodge her. If he hadn't been fast enough, the chip he had been handling oh so carefully could have ended up in Demencia's mouth. The sound of the door was enough to distract the girl in question, giving him a chance to push her out of his way, get out of their wrestling fight and make a run for it, remembering to tuck the chip into his pocket in the process.

"Thank Satan you're back, Mr. Black Hat! Demencia-"

He was in the middle of trying to explain the situation as quickly as possible when his eyes caught sight of someone else walking behind his boss, someone unfamiliar, someone so small compared to the eldritch. Her head was down, her long dark hair covering her face completely, her gaze looking down at her steps as they followed Black Hat's. Ermano didn't know why, but she looked so helpless to him, even though he hadn't known why she was here yet. She looked as if she wasn't happy at all to be here.

"Woah, who is that?" Demencia had come and asked exactly what Ermano had been meaning to ask.

Black Hat came to a stop once he was in front of the two of them. "Ermano, Demencia, meet our new recruit Riona."

"Recruit?" Demencia raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were out to collect some guy's debt, not hire someone n- Ow!"

Ermano had subconciously elbowed her upon seeing the way the new girl's hands clenched and gripped her dress.

Black Hat coughed into his fist before continuing. "Well, let's just say that… her arrival cleared his debt."

The whole room fell into silence as the realization sunk into the two employees, Ermano feeling his throat getting stuck and sweats beginning to bead on his forehead. He was aware that he needed to say something, _do_ something to get everyone out of this awkward and uncomfortable moment, and he swallowed before holding out his hand to his new coworker.

"Nice to meet you. Riona, isn't it?" He tried his hardest not to stutter in order to remain professional. "I'm Ermano Cruz, scientist and inventor of Black Hat Organization. Welcome to the Manor."

For the first time since forever, she slowly began to look up, even though she seemed to hesitate at first, as if she… busy remembering something. They caught each other's eyes, and for a moment Ermano was having a hard time trying to decide how he should feel about this new woman, about her mask in particular. How should he describe it, he greatly wondered. Strange? Peculiar? Unique? Nothing right came to his mind. But that wasn't important. No matter what word he chose, it was undeniable that the piece of accessory in question really succeeded in making her look stand out for a human like her.

Her eyes, they amazed Ermano as well. They were green, a very unfamiliar shade of green if you looked closely into them. They held a blue feeling that perfectly matched the color of her outfit, sadness clearly written in them, but somehow she wasn't crying or showing any sign of tears at all, which surprised him. He had expected her to cry, but she had been able to keep her emotion together. He asked himself if it was because she was strong, or because she was so sad, so depressed and scared that even tears would be meaningless to express her feelings at this point.

Her silence made him wonder if she had ever said a word on their way back here, but he was glad to see her hand move, once again hesitating before taking his hand into hers, slowly shaking it.

"I, uh, hope that we'll work well together." He was glad that he was able to find something to break the silence.

"Now, Riona." Black Hat spoke up to catch their attention, hers in particular. "Can you cook and clean?"

The woman nodded, and the way she did it made Ermano's heart break a little for some reason.

"Good."

The eldritch said before whistling, calling a certain blue bear over. He initially just did it to introduce her to another member she would spend a lot of time with, which meant he wasn't expecting what happened next.

As 5.0.5 purred, waving his little paw as a way to say hello, the girl's eyes stared up at 5.0.5, her eyes widening in amazement. After a few moments of speechlessness, she walked closer, taking each slow step toward him before gently placing her hand onto him. 5.0.5 purred at her touch as she placed a second hand, her eyes still held that astonished look, adoration even, before on her face was… a smile. A hard to notice smile through a brief look, but it was for certain that it was there on her lips, appearing for the first time ever. And, within a second, she had buried herself into his soft fur, still holding that smile which had got wider, more beautiful, _stunning_ than ever, completely different than the expressionless look she had had when she first entered the mansion. "What's your name, little one?", she even asked in endearment with absolute softness.

Normally, Black Hat would just roll his eyes at the sight of affection, but here he was, staring in bewilderment at his new employee, his eyes widening greatly, his breath getting heavy as he caught that smile, that look full of _adoration._ That look wasn't normal, he was sure of it. That look, he had- he had _seen_ it somewhere, _remembered_ it so clearly because it had _etched_ into his mind. Her eyes, those beautiful blue eyes, they had looked at him in the same way with love and _warmth_ as her rosy lips whispered the sweetest and most sentimental things that had slowly grown on him, sinking into the deepest reach of his heart and mind. This didn't feel right, this felt _wrong._ It made him dizzy, made his head hurt, made everything around him spin, the sight of her appearing from afar-

" _Lord Black Hat!"_

Someone shook him as they said loudly, pulling him back into reality as he became aware that he was literally _shaking._

"Boss, are you okay?" Ermano asked, sighing in relief beforehand. "I kept calling you, but you didn't hear me."

"I…" Black Hat held his head as he tried to calm his heart down. "I'm fine. I'm _always_ fine. A- Anyway- Riona!"

He didn't mean to yell, but he felt like that was the best way to make everyone forget about this.

"Stop messing around, you're ruining the professionalism!"

The way Riona yelped nearly made Black Hat have a breakdown again. "I- I'm sorry, sir!"

"Back to where I was." He coughed as a way to try to collect his thoughts. "This is 5.0.5, and you'll work as a maid, cleaning the Manor and cooking with him. Understood?"

A quick "yes" was enough to give Black Hat an professional excuse to flee the scene.


	5. New Life

"This will be your new room, newbie."

Demencia said as Ermano opened the door to one of the vacant rooms close to his, looking over Demencia in the process.

"Demencia, can you please use a... better name to call her? 'Newbie' doesn't sound appropriate right now."

"What?" Demencia raised her voice as well as her eyebrows. "What's with that serious tone all of the sudden?"

Ermano sighed, thinking carefully on his word choice. "Judging by her… situation, she's already not happy as it is. Don't call her something like that."

Demencia let out a small tch as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "You're just bitter because you don't want to be reminded of your previous title."

That sent an arrow straight through Ermano's pride.

"Hey, what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Ermano was _offended,_ seriously offended. It hurt whenever someone underestimated a creator's true abilities, and Ermano could relate to that forever lasting pain. "Are you saying that I'm a talentless demon who got his position here just by pure luck?!"

"Well, what if I am? What if I'm not?" Demencia glared at him. "Look at you, acting all like a professional."

The lizard girl stuck her tongue out and it irritated the scientist to no end.

While the two employees were busy with their daily dose of meaningless arguments, the new recruit took time to look around her room. It was quite dusty and empty with just a few boxes and shelves, so this room must have been left alone here for a long time. Her first step touched its floor, the intense sound of the fight behind her in vain as her heels gently clanked against the cold surface. Putting her hand on the wall with her touch light as a feather, she looked absentmindedly around the room, her eyes wandering around. Her eyes narrowed at their sight of the shelves placed at the corner of the room. They were just shelves, yes. But somehow she felt like something was missing, something small but significant to her. Books, perhaps? And there was even an urge to see a desk placed somewhere here just for the sake of it being here. She could have been having memories of the previous mansion she had lived in, but she was skeptical about that possibility. In that mansion, she did have a room of her own, but it wasn't like she could spend time in it much. Before her engagement to Adrian, she was like other maids, busy cleaning and cooking from morning to evening and barely having time for herself in her room. And even after she had a ring put on her finger, dressed in a gorgeous baby blue outfit, she still couldn't have any privacy. Even though her mother-in-law had warned Adrian against indecent acts before marriage, he would still sometimes seek for them, touching her waist and shoulders whenever they were together, and he would go as far as to come into her room without any warning.

The empty corners of the room were slowly killing her. But luckily 5.0.5 and a Hatbot came, carrying her belongings and, to her relief, a desk and many other furniture. 5.0.5 was in a cute maid outfit which greatly reminded her of her friends back at the old mansion and he waved at her upon his arrival.

"Ah, are you here to clean up?" She asked, on her face was a small smile when she saw the blue bear nod. "Here, I'll give you a helping hand."

She took a cleaning towel from the housekeeping cart, which made 5.0.5 look at her and let out a confused sound. She chuckled and patted his arm.

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to this job."

She gave him a reassuring smile before proceeding to go clean the shelves. 5.0.5 purred happily and followed suit, taking a mop and proceeding to clean the floor. Looking at him and his cheerful attitude, she couldn't help smiling more. It had been quite a long time since she saw such positive energy. Even when the blue bear was doing something as tiring and boring as household chores, he still managed to work with a cheery face, and he looked absolutely adorable like that. Unlike him, she had never felt such joy during her entire life. Living under the same roof as the Alvizos was like standing under a giant rock, something ready to fall and crush her at any given second. Everyday, the pressure just seemed to increase little by little, and when she thought it couldn't get worse, it did indeed get worse when Adrian proposed to her. After the big news, Mrs. Alvizo clearly didn't feel pleased and constantly kept a close eye on her, following her every activity and every word she let out, pressuring her into behaving like a true elite lady. It was an unpleasant time, really. But now with a gleeful bear whose soft fur closely matched her dress color, she felt like a small weight was lifted from her shoulders. Even the arguments from the other two didn't sound scary anymore, not like the quiet but threatening words from her mother-in-law.

Speaking of the other two, they were speechless when the room was sparkling clean the moment they turned their heads.

"Wait-" Demencia squinted her eyes, seemingly as an attempt to see things differently. "Did we go to the wrong room?"

"Um… no. I mean, I can see my room at the end of the hallway." Ermano finally spoke up after looking around. "Riona, did you…"

"Uh, yeah." Riona answered quietly. "I had 5.0.5 here to help me, so it didn't take long."

Ermano blinked a few times before letting out a small gasp. "Woah, it looks… completely different. That's impressive."

"No, don't thank me, thank 5.0.5-" Riona was cut off when the said bear pulled her into a tight hug, emitting a small laugh from her. "No problem, 5.0.5, really. Happy to be of help."

"Hmm… It seems like he likes you a lot, on the first day too." Demencia tapped her chin with a finger. "You know, it's been a while since 5.0.5 got this attached to someone."

"What do you mean?"

Demencia hesitated for a moment at Ermano's question before shaking her head. "Nothing. Anyway, ya should get some rest."

"That's right." Ermano said as Hatbot proceeded to bring stuff into the room. "You should be available for work two hours later, at ten AM sharp. Lord Black Hat might need you then."

"Thank you, Dr. Ermano and Lady Demencia." Riona said quietly as she bowed down as a formal way to show her gratitude.

"Oh, you needn't call me that." Ermano shook his hand. "Just Ermano is fine."

"Yeah, no need to be so formal." Demencia said, smilling a little to reassure her. "Get some rest."

"Thanks."

Riona said one last time before the door shut in front of her, leaving her alone in the closed space. Without the voice of others to help occupy her mind, she found herself deep in thoughts again, questions swimming messily in her head. With silence engulfing the room, she walked to her bed with a distracted mind, sitting down slowly as the doubts refused to leave. Everything seemed to have faded away around her, her surroundings in vain and only uncertainty remained, clutching her soul and heart. She silently asked herself what she had to do and what would happen the next time she woke up. She would have wished this had been a dream, but she had woken up dissapointed so many times that she stopped waiting for it to happen.

From time from time when the night was quiet, she would walk up to the river in the backyard of the Alvizos and look down at it, its crystal clear water reflecting her depressed eyes. She then would look at how a leaf from the tree above fell down ever so slowly and watch it be carried away by the flow of the river. The leaf was her, having no control of what day it would wither and no knowledge of where the flow would go. It couldn't complain, it couldn't do a thing other than to accept its fate.


	6. Scented Tea, Tangy Taste

The shattering sound of the cup echoed across the room, ringing loudly in the young girl's ears. She looked down at the fragments around her feet, the colors having left her face upon seeing the sight in front of her. Pieces of the broken cup drowned in the reddish brown tea, something so simple but so frightening to Riona. One of maids' worst horror was breaking something at where they worked, even if it was just a regular cup. However, the situation at hand was much more different.

It was true that the cup she just broke didn't really have much value. It could easily be replaced by a new one and she could just clean it if she was careful enough. But the whole matter wasn't even about the cup. It was the fact that she tripped, spilled the tea, and now she _had nothing to make more._ She had used all the remaining tea leaves to make this cup. She would have gone to the store to get some if it hadn't been for the rule that the tea needed to be ready right this instant. When Black Hat requested tea, a steamy cup of it should be served right away, no exceptions or excuses.

Right when she thought she was doing so well during her first two months here.

She took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down before kneeling down to clean the mess she had made, but her mind couldn't focus at all. All she was worrying about was how she could get the ingredients as fast as possible. She searched all over the kitchen, in every single cabinet and in every corner of the fridge, desperate to find something when it was clearly impossible. To her dismay, she couldn't see anything that could replace what she needed, her hands shaking while gripping the door of the last cupboard she opened. Fear began to invade her mind and make her come up with the worst scenarios ever. How would Black Hat react? It was just a cup of tea, but as a perfectionist he was, he would possibly get very angry at this seemingly small thing. But the more she thought about it, getting yelled at was probably better than being kicked out of the house or even devoured in a horrifying fashion, never to be seen again.

In a split moment of panic, her eyes unconsciously glanced to her side and caught sight of a place she hadn't checked yet. It was a small box placed on top of a high cupboard, somewhere a normal person wouldn't notice right away.

When one is in great danger, they can come up with the most absurd ideas ever to increase the chance of survival, and Riona was in that exact state of mind. A dangerous idea crossed her mind, the idea of looking inside that box. Ermano had told her not to touch that box under every circumstances, but she found herself unable to follow that rule in this case. Beside, he never explained to her why she shouldn't do it, so she was pretty curious. In the end, she gave herself enough excuses to try looking at its content.

Standing on a chair, she was able to reach that box and bring it down, taking in a deep breath to gather courage. To her surprise, she didn't find regular tea leaves, but _herbs_ instead, their sweet scent hitting her nose immediately.

She furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at them. The combination looked strange, but they looked somehow familiar. She couldn't quite understand why though. At the Alvizos, she had never used these kinds of herbs to make tea before, so it musn't have been why she could somehow recognize them. Maybe she had seen it somewhere else, even if she wasn't able to exactly pin-point where it was.

Before she was aware of it, her hands were already reaching in while her head screamed at her. _You idiot! You're going to expose yourself! And what if they're dangerous?!_ The thought was loud in her head, but it wasn't strong enough to overpower the other part of her mind which told her that it was okay. In fact, she wasn't just holding them to feel or smell them. She actually began to move her hands as if she knew what to do with them. And to think more about it, it was probably true in a way. She knew exactly what her next move was and didn't hesitate to do it. Her movements were swift and confident, unlike her usual self who was always too careful and unsure when dealing with these stuff. No guessing, no trial and error. She just went with her instinct. Before she knew it, a new cup of tea was finished, its smoke gently flying up into the air.

She gulped and picked up the tea cup, proceeding to head to Black Hat's office. She kept wondering what had just gone into her until the moment she knocked on the door.

A cold, deep voice spoke up, giving her permission to go in. As soon as she walked in, she was hit by that familiar feeling again, making her stand still in her place for a few seconds. Strange emotions rushed to her as her eyes focused on the man sitting at his desk. She watched the way his eyes looked up at her while his body stayed still as if he was checking whether or not it was really her. His stare had almost made her step backward when her mind suddenly went against her common sense. He looked cold, but somehow she could feel that his gaze also held a longing feel to it. This happened everytime they met alone in a closed space, and she secretly asked herself why she was feeling this way. Sometimes, she wanted to look back to see if there was a mysterious figure behind her, but there was no one every single time. It kind of scared her, but the somehow sad look in his eyes ensured that he was not going to hurt her.

"H- Here's your tea, Mr. Black Hat." She tried to make her voice sound less shaky, but to no avail.

"Put it here." He coldly said, and then came another strange feel from him – disappointment. She was raising an eyebrow at this point. Why was he dissapointed? Was he expecting someone else? But even if he was, who was the lucky girl? It definitely wasn't Demencia, whose annoying tricks could get herself killed by this infamous man one day.

Wait, why did she immediately think it was a girl he was waiting for? And did she just describe that unknown girl as _"lucky"_?

She really wanted to shake her head to throw away those meaningless thoughts out of her mind. But if she did that, she would be considered rude and would raise questions, so she was forced to just deal with it and hope that it would go away soon. She figured that silently watching her boss drink his tea would be the best way to forget those random thoughts. His long, elegant gloved fingers gently wrapped themselves around the handle and lift the cup up, his eyes looking at how the tea inside twirl around at the sudden movement. Her boss looked as if he was missing something, even though she didn't understand the reason behind it. His wistful eyes seemed to be giving her a similar feeling, the feeling of recalling the dreams she had long abandoned.

As soon as the eldritch's tongue made contact with the first drop, his eyes widened as the cup dropped onto the desk. His calmness left him and his upmost importance of keeping a collected posture was soon forgotten. His breath was ragged. His hand clutched his chest in a desperately pathetic attempt to calm his raging heart down. His inner demon was fighting its hardest with the new invader, the nostalgia threatening to take over, to make him weak and cause tears to shed. The aromatic smell of dandelions leaves, the heady scent of violets, the flowery taste of lilac, as well as roses, rosemary… an ambrosial and harmonious combination. Such perfection he had not had a taste of for centuries, but he considered it a good thing. The feeling of yearning was not worth it.

The tea had created a mess on his normally flawless desk and soon found its way to the edge of it. The first drop fell. But instead of dropping on the matted floor, it landed on a hard, smooth surface, emitting a hardly noticeable sound. In a panicking state of mind, that small sound pulled Black Hat's attention, forcing him to look at its direction to see a foot in blue heel. Upon tilting his head up, his eyes locked with a pair of emeralds filled with worries.

" _You should rest, Black."_

_The tired eyes of the infamous demon shifted sideways to catch sight of a tea cup gently placed on his desk. He looked up to see a smile on his girlfriend's face, but they were somehow tainted with worries._

" _Thanks, but I cannot rest now. The meeting is three days away and I have to finish these papers before then."_

" _But you haven't had a single minute to even breath for the whole week."_

" _That's not a problem. I can change my body to adapt to an airless environment."_

_That was obviously not what Fluggie meant, but she didn't really bother protesting against his stubborn desire to work himself to the bone. After a sigh left her lips, a smirk crept up on her face as a thought came to her mind, making her chuckle inwardly. Having confirmed that he really wasn't paying attention, she slowly bent down, her hand sneakily reached for his chin. Then, with movements as swift as an arrow, she turned his face to her and planted a kiss on his lips. She was taking her time with it, letting every corner of their lips touch and feeling the sensation it brought. Before he realized it, she had pulled away, a mischievous smile on her lips._

" _Hope that makes you feel better then. See you!"_

_She giggled and quickly walked out of the room, leaving her boyfriend sitting there in a daze. His hand unconsciously brought itself up to his face, his fingers lightly touch where her soft lips had been. The rich smell of the tea was still fresh, but it wasn't getting to him at all. The sweet scent of her kiss was still lingering in his mouth, tickling all his senses, and he wanted more. He could never get enough of that intoxicating taste. It was more addicting that any kind of high-class coffee or wine that he had ever known._

_Gazing at the tea cup, he sighed. He should pretend to be tired again in the future, he thought as he went to fix his tie for no reason at all._

But instead of his tie, he felt something else. As soon as the scene flashed over his head, it was gone in a second, pulling him back to reality, the unhappy present without her. He had touched something soft, and he glanced down to see fingers, the beautiful fingers that was holding a handkerchief at his chest. Had he not been aware that this was the present, he would have thought that those belonged to his wife. Riona was by his side the whole time, panicking as she tried to clean his stained suit. The tea was dripping onto her shoes, but she was not concerned by it at all. Her boss had looked like he was in a panic attack, something she wasn't expecting from a calm and scary man like him, and worries consumed her mind until she saw his hand touching hers.

"Ahh!" She pulled back, startled. "S- Sir, thank god-"

"We don't say 'god' here."

"Oh- uh- I'm sorry- I'm- I'm-"

Black Hat sighed as he pretended to brush the dust of his suit, putting up a calm and annoyed face to hide the fact that his mind was a tangled mess. _What was that? What just happened? What's with that weird flashback? What's with_ _ **that tea?**_ He thought as he stared at the empty cup lying on his desk, its sight haunting him, threatening to consume every single inch of his being.

"A- Are you okay, sir? I'm so sorry! It's- It's just that we ran out of tea leaves, and-"

_Ran out of tea leaves?_ His eyes glanced over his frantic servant as he repeated what she had said in his head. His heart skipped a beat upon figuring something out – she must have used the "forbidden" ingredients that he placed in that box in the kitchen. Ever since the day she left this world, one of his strategies to forget her was to hide everything that was related to her. He labelled them as "forbidden", and the herbs she used to make his favorite tea were one of them. Right now, he wasn't even mad that she opened that box. He was wondering _why_ this particular girl here _knew_ how to make this tea that he adored so much. The taste… it was too _real,_ too _familiar_ to be considered something normal.

It tasted like the _past._

"Sir- P- Please forgive me! I-"

_No_ … There was no way. It _couldn't_ be… He shook his head, dissappointed in himself for thinking of something impossible like that.

She was no more. He had seen it with his very own eyes, seen how her lifeless body slump down…

"I- I really wasn't thinking of _poisoning you-_ "

However, when he thought more about it, he couldn't blame himself for thinking that way, especially with how the girl in blue was desperately talking her way out of troubles. It brought back memories.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" He feigned annoyance, waving his hand in the air. "Just a teeny weeny tea stain isn't going to kill me, you know."

"I- I'm sorry…"

"Look…" He sighed into his hand, sneaking a glance at the helpless girl. "Just go, alright? I can handle this myself."

"Are you sure, sir? As your servant, it's my duty to-"

"To listen to your boss." He finished her sentence before she could. "I'll be fine."

She hesitated for a while before she nodded, heading out of his office. She figured that annoying him further wasn't really the best course of action right now. She knew she should be thankful that God had given her a chance to excuse herself out of that situation, but for some reason, she felt like she needed to stay there by his side, to reassure him and relieve any of his doubts. But then again, what did she know anyway? She was just a stranger never meant to step foot here in the very beginning. He was her superior and she was his underling, nothing more. She had no right to have a say in his personal business.

Closing the doors behind her, she tried to pay no mind to the man behind her. Black Hat snapped his fingers and the mess was cleaned up, the cup put upright and the stains disappearing as if they weren't there from the start. He threw himself backward, letting out a sigh as he leaned against his chair. He secretly asked over and over again the same questions, the ones that could not be answered right away.

Ever since this girl came here, strange things had been happening.

Every time he saw the doors open, why did he expect to see woman in white lab coat with blueprints in her arms?


	7. A Toxic Dose

"What's the matter, Ermano?"

Riona asked the frantic scientist who was messing up the boxes mindlessly like there was no tomorrow. The half-human demon looked up at her, eyes filled with panic.

"It's- It's _gone._ " He mumbled while his hands were still hopelessly searching. "It's really gone."

Riona raised an eyebrow at him. "What's gone?"

"T- The notes for the potion, they're not here, not there, not anywhere…" Finally accepting his defeat, Ermano's body slumped down and his knees hit the floor, his hands gripping his head, not caring if it messed up his prefect hair he always tried to maintain. "They contained information about the potion I'm making and the most crucial ingredient for it. I couldn't remember what it was, and neither could I find the notes. I'm- I'm _dead_ if Mr. Black Hat finds out, because the client who ordered it is extremely important to the success of the organization."

Ermano looked nothing like his usual calm self, not when he literally having a breakdown like this. And for the first time since forever, she knew the reason without asking a single question in her head. Lord Black Hat was indeed a scary man. It had long been proven true that his strength was stronger than anyone else, both mentally and physically. He had once defeated an army of millions of guards with just a flick of a finger, beaten up many superheros that were seen as the shield of many towns, and he had killed countless of his rivals who threatened to harm his business, his fame, his possessions and himself. And every one of those achievements, he all did it without a tiny bit of remorse or hesitance. Hence why he earned the title of "The Reincarnation of All Evil", something that was quite literal. Even before the first day she met him, she had heard of him many times and was aware of what kind of man he was – a ruthless and undefeatable demon, someone you shouldn't mess with just for fun. Because if you did so, then you'd surely become his fun thing instead.

Knowing the situation Ermano was in, she incrediably felt worried as well, not only for him but also for herself, as well as the others in this household. After the tea incident last month, she had been extremely afraid to make another mistake ever again. She made sure to stock up food supplies when they were about to run out, clean every inch of the Manor until it was squeakingly spotless and watch every word she let out. But that incident, it just involved tea, nothing major. Ermano on the other hand, someone could have said that he messed up _big time,_ committing something that made criticizing no longer a problem.

The silence went on, save for the quiet absentminded rambling of the inventor, so Riona spoke up in order to break it.

"Can you tell me more about it?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to say it." Ermano sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "This isn't the first time that this client requests this kind of potion. He actually commissioned Black Hat's previous scientist to make it, and it worked so well that when it ran out, he came to order some more, which was yesterday."

"What's it for?"

Ermano chuckled. "Well, I don't want to scare you, but it's a deadly potion that could kill almost anything in the most cruel way possible. It can burn any plant without a trace, no matter if it's a thousand-year-old oak tree. As for living things, such as humans and demons like me, it makes your head spin, break your mind, bring out your darkest memories while it eats up your organs slowly, make your skin sizzle and…"

Riona should have stopped him out of fright, but for reason she was listening intentively with a face of _interest._ She showed no sign of fear, her eyes lighting up in amazement at the abilities of this unique chemical. Ermano stopped after having listed everything in a good five minutes and she still hadn't budged, though it wasn't because she was scared.

"T- Then what do you need for it?"

It was a question so irrelevent to her knowledge in chemistry that she couldn't believe she asked it. Even Ermano thought the same thing.

"You're a curious one, are you? But I'll tell you anyway." Ermano chuckled a little, though his heart skipped a beat upon returning to the main topic that was the cause of his anxiety. "Its name is BHO29-X. The BHO stands for the organization's name, and the number indicates the total number of ingredients it has. They are very complicated, so I'm just going to name the most important ones. It contains various strong acid such as fluoroantimonic, hydrochloric and nitric acid, hence why it can easily burn through anything it comes in contact with. It also has 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, or dioxin for short, to help damage fatty organs like liver and spleen. Oh, and dimethyl cadmium too, which is a nasty one and is considered one of the most toxic chemicals ever."

Pausing for a while, he sighed. "And lastly, the damn chemical that I forg-"

"What's the client's name?"

The question came in a rush, making Ermano look up in surprise. Not only it came so quickly that it cut him off, but it was also completely off-topic. And more than that, she was looking down at the ground, her bangs covering her face as if she was asking a very serious question.

"Um… If I remember correctly…" Ermano looked away briefly as he rubbed his chin. "His name is Louis De Santiago-"

"Botulinum toxin A."

"… _What?"_ Now Ermano was definitely confused.

"Botulinum toxin A." Riona repeated, finally looking up with eyes filled with certainty, which was a sight to behold. She had always had on a shy face, so this was completely different from her usual self. "That's the last ingredient."

Her eyes was fierce and full of confidence, but as soon as Ermano's shoulders slumped down again, she was back to her normal worrying personality. Scared that she might have accidentally said something wrong, she slowly walked up to the scientist whose face was down, staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the entire universe.

"E- Ermano…?" She asked, voice shaking and filled with panic. "I- Is something the matter? I'm sorry if-"

" _That's it!_ "

Ermano shouted out of the blue, his mood took a one eighty turn and changed from a gloomy man to a child full of energy. He stood up from the ground like an arrow striking through the sky, hands fisting in excitement upon getting back his enthusiasm. However, being too happy wasn't exactly a good thing either, because he forgot to check his surroundings and knocked over the maid who was standing right next to him with her hand on his shoulder.

"Aah!" She yelped, trying to stay balanced but to no avail, everything around her flashing through her eyes. But luckily, her coworker was there and used his fast reflexes to catch her arm in time.

They still fell onto the floor though.

Riona grunted after the fall, rubbing her head as she moved her hand, trying to find a foundation to help her get up. But instead of the hard floor, she felt something softer. And the moment she looked down was when she realized something mortifying. The thing she touched was the inventor's chest. Ermano was lying underneath her while she was on him. Even if he hadn't managed to pull her back up on her feet, he had still been able to act quickly by letting her fall on top of him.

"G- Gah!" She exclaimed out loud as she pushed her body up, her face beet red. "I- I- I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!"

"No need to panic, I'm fine." Ermano said that with a smile even though he let out a small groan. "Are you feeling alright?"

"N- No…" She covered her mouth as she talked in embarrassment, trying to hide the obvious blush. "T- Thanks to you, I'm-"

"What's going on in here? It's so noisy I could hear you two from thousands of dimensions away-"

First Black Hat cut Riona off, and then he cut himself off upon witnessing the sight displayed in front of him. His eyes widened, his feet stopping in his track and his mouth was agape, staring at his two employees while they stared at him back. The staring competition lasted for what felt like eternities until the eldritch got back his senses.

" _What_ in the hellish _fuck_ are you doing?!"

He screeched in the most demonic, headache-inducing tone as dark shadows appeared behind him, tentacles growing out from his back and his eyes glowing a dangerous, bloody crimson red. Both of his underlings screamed in terror as they hurriedly got out of their current positon. Even though Riona had pushed her body up, she forgot to get off him completely, resulting in her sitting on top of him.

"W- We sincerely apologize, boss!" Ermano pleaded. "It's just a misunderstanding!"

"Just a _misunderstanding_?" Black Hat repeated his words while still in a terrifying state. "Well then, you owe me an explanation!"

"I- I- I was just t- trying to prevent Riona f- from falling!"

Hearing a seemingly reasonable answer, Black Hat softened, looking at them for a few more seconds before returning back to his normal form. He coughed into his hand as if trying to get back his professional image after losing himself.

"Very well, I forgive you." He talked calmly like he hadn't just turned into biological killing machine a few seconds ago. "But be careful next time, alright? I don't want to see any affectionate activities in the Manor."

He was basically slapping himself with that last statement, but it was a way to explain why he was so mad at what these two had just done. The truth was, he had seen Ermano and Demencia in that same position a million times already, but he was never angry like this. The first time he caught Demencia sitting on top of Ermano while in the middle of a fight, he just let out a "tch" of annoyance, nothing else. So he now was incredibly confused, wondering why he was furious upon seeing Riona like that. Riona just replaced Demencia's position in the same situation, that was the only difference.

"We need to keep the professionalism." _You need to keep your hands off her._ "The general rule is that you don't let anything distract you." _The general rule is that you don't touch a single strand of her hair._ "Letting our clients see you two like that is the last thing I want." _Letting myself see you two like that is the last thing I want._ "It'll be a disgrace to our organization's name if this happens in front of everyone else, so try to keep your act together, Ermano, Riona." _It'll be the end of your life if this happens again, so you better watch it, Ermano._

Black Hat wanted to slap himself to clear his mess of a mind, but with his employees standing right here, he was forced to conceal what he was dealing with in misery. His head was playing a trick on him. While his mouth all said the objective things, his mind kept replacing those statements with aggressive words toward his own scientist and him only. If those words had been about scolding Ermano for being clumsy, then he wouldn't have worried. But the reality was more than that. Indeed, he was interally yelling at Ermano, not for being clumsy but for being in that position with Riona. He honestly didn't know what was wrong with him. Why was he angry at his scientist for such an irrational thing? For the first time since forever, he willingly admitted that he was the one in the wrong, but never would he say it out loud.

"Get back to work."

He turned on his heels and quickly left the room. He stepped a few steps away until he was sure the fading sound of the footsteps were enough to trick them into thinking that he was completely out of sight. In order not to create more footsteps that indicated his coming, he dissolved himself into a shadow and moved along the wall to get back to into the lab, using his stealthy technique to quickly hide himself under the desk, where the darkness would cover his shadow form. Why he did this was simple – he couldn't leave these two alone again. He didn't trust Ermano enough. He needed to make sure Ermano's reason wasn't a lie.

"I'm terribly sorry, Ermano." Riona mumbled. "I almost got you into troubles."

"It's really okay, Riona. You don't need to apologize." Ermano reassured her. "I should thank you instead!"

"T- Thank me for what?" Riona had on a confused expression.

Ermano had on a big smile as he held Riona's shoulders. Black Hat was about to lash out in outrage when he heard what the scientist said next.

"Thanks to you, I remember the most crucial ingredient for BHO29-X! It's Botox! It's really Botox! Because it can adversely impact the communication between nerves and muscle cells, which can cause respiratory failure and even death! Why didn't I think of that?!"

Black Hat froze as many questions began appearing in his mind. The fact that his scientist forgot the most important ingredient, he didn't care. Right now, he was busy rethinking Ermano's words.

" _Thanks to you"? Does that mean Riona… help him remember it?_

His weighless body shook rapidly upon realizing what it meant. _N- No, it couldn't be. First she knew how to make my favorite tea, now she knew what the main ingredient to that exclusive potion that only my organization has? I- Impossible! Beside from Ermano, the only one who knows how to make it is… is…_

" _Sir Black Hat! Sir Black Hat! Look! Look! It's a success! The new potion is a success! I'm going to name it BHO29-X! Mr. De Santiago will be so proud! Are you proud, boss? Are you?"_

The day Fluggie was yelling happily at him after bursting into his office flashed through his head. It was just for a briefly second, but the effect it left was lethal. He was breathing heavily while trying to stay focus on the other two. Maybe Riona would say something that proved his suspicion wrong, he hoped.

"But I'm wondering why you're able to figure it out so quickly, Riona." Coincidentally, Ermano spoke Black Hat's mind. "Because you were oddly specific when stating its full name. Most people use its commercial name instead."

"Um… uh…" Riona stuttered. "W- Well, m- my dad is a chemist, so m- maybe I heard it from him…"

"Hmm… that can partly explain it then." Ermano thought for a while before returning to his opimistic self. "Anyway, that's not important, because this means I get to live another day! I'm going to find some Botox in the storage room before I forget it again. See you!"

With that, he rushed out of the room in lightning speed, leaving Riona standing there alone in his lab. Having no one to talk to anymore, she sighed and picked up the cleaning towel she had dropped, resuming her job of cleaning the shelves. Having ensured that Ermano had no intention of doing anything indecent to her, Black Hat was about to sneak out when he heard her say something so quietly that it was barely noticable.

"I'm sorry, Ermano. I lied."

Black Hat stopped in his track to hear what she had to say next.

"My dad wasn't a chemist and I don't even know why I knew it was Botox in the first place."

Curiosity kills the cat, they say.


	8. Her Mask

Everyday, after sun had set and left way for the night sky, after everyone had fallen into the deep slumber, it would just be Riona or Ermano who were still awake. When Riona came to the lab a while ago, the scientist wasn't there working, so tonight she was the last one to go to bed. Patting 5.0.5 on the head and smiling at his adorable sleeping face, she proceeded to head to her room. She was always busy during the daytime, so she only had some time alone in the night. But then, she decided to just sleep most of the time. Staying up would just make her think over and over again about where her life was going to take her.

Upon reaching the floor which her room was on, she suddenly felt chills running down her spine, making her stop in her track. Strange, the temparature today wasn't that cold and there was no wind, so why did she shiver for a second there? Trying to brush it off, she continued walking down the hallway even though the scary chills kept on coming, making her feel increasingly uneasy the closer she got to her room. Finally closing the door behind her, she let out of a sigh of relief and told herself that she really was just imagining thing. Therefore, she didn't notice a hand behind her until it grabbed her.

She wanted to scream, and she did in fact try to, but the intruder had already covered her mouth and even brought up a knife to her throat, its blade shining brightly under the dim light of the room.

"Scream and this knife will make sure that you'll never be able to even muster a single word anymore."

Her body froze when she realized that she recognized this voice.

She desparately wanted to struggle out of his grip, but her survival insinct held her back at the sight of the knife. She glanced her eyes back and forth, sweats starting to roll down her forehead. There was an alarm button right beside the door, just like any other room, but it was unfortunately too far from her grasp because the attacker had pulled her back. She didn't have any weapon on her and she couldn't wish for someone to walk by either, as everyone had gone to bed, even Demencia.

"Be good and come back to me, _my doll._ "

He whispered into her ear as a wide and dangerous smirk made its way up his face, his low tone sending shivers down her entire body. Her eyes began to water and her body shook. She had countlessly asked herself if she really had no control over her life, and today she had eventually received her answer, which was a cold, harsh no.

"No she won't."

Another voice spoke up and the intruder shouted.

"W- Who's that?! Show y-"

He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence when a loud thud was heard and he was knocked over, falling to the ground. Suddenly being released, she also lost balance and fell down, but she was luckily held back by someone. Surrounded by the darkness of the room, she was still able to see that it was her boss, his eyes narrowed and his monocle gleaming brightly. Her heart skipped a beat, strange feelings flooding back to her and heat starting to rush to her cheeks. They stayed like that for a while, staring silently at each other until both of them became aware that he was still holding her waist. He quickly pulled her up and put his hands behind his back at once, coughing into his hand as a way to release all the tension building up in the room.

"Are you okay, Riona?"

Startled by the sudden question, she stuttered a bit before she was able to calm down, wondering what was it that she just felt in her heart. "I, uh, I'm alright. Thank you so much for saving me, sir. B- But how did you get here?"

"I transported via my shadow." Black Hat said as his fingers snapped and a rope magically appeared, tying the intruder right up. "I knew that he would hold you hostage as soon as I showed up, so I secretly sneaked up behind him in my shadow form."

"Y- You're still awake all this time?"

"What do you mean, still awake?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "You talk as if I sleep at all."

She looked away and thought for a few seconds before looking up again with worried eyes. "You're having trouble sleeping?"

He just stared at her in disbelief before raising his hand up to face-palm. "You've been here for five months and you still haven't figured out that I _don't_ sleep?"

She blinked a few times like she was having difficulties processing the information she had just received. "Oh, uh, thanks for telling me then, sir. But then… how did you know that he's here, trying to kidnap me?"

_I sensed that you were in danger, so I immediately rushed here. I didn't want to be late. I couldn't afford to make the same mistake hundreds of years ago._

That was what he wanted to say, but he knew she would ask him what that mistake was. So, he decided to just tell her yet another lie.

"This guy's a dumbass. He forgot that he's trespassing the mighty Black Hat's manor, so he let his guard down and didn't realize that there are cameras literally everywhere. Anyway…"

He quickly changed subject before she could question him anything else, glancing at the tied up intruder.

"Adrian… Wasn't he your fiancé?"

She followed his gaze, looking down at the blond man in question. She just quietly nodded without saying anything else.

"Then why was he using force on you?" He held his chin. "He wouldn't threaten the very person he's trying to rescue, would he?"

He didn't expect that his question would make everything fall into silence again. Even her expression had changed. Her head was down, her hand gripped her dress tightly as she bit her lips. While he was wondering what caused such a drastic change, she looked up again, but this time her eyes had fear hinted in them.

"C- Can you move him to somewhere else first? I… don't want him here while we're talking."

He raised an eyebrow at her request but decided to ignore it. He snapped his fingers to send Adrian to his office and she turned the light on. They didn't have any chair to sit on, so they chose the bed instead.

"I didn't think I'd one day tell you about this, Lord Black Hat." She spoke up after taking in a deep breath. "Yes, Adrian was my fiancé, but… things are much more complicated."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, to start off, I didn't come to the Alvizos as an elite lady, unlike what everyone thinks." She inhaled once more before continuing. "I was just an orphan."

Black Hat's eyes widened.

"My parents were successful businesspeople so my family was quite wealthy. We were happy together, but the good days didn't last long. When I was fourteen, we had to move due to my parents' job. The plane suddenly crashed into a remote area and I was the only survivor. After that tragic accident, I stumbled across an unfamiliar city and roamed the streets I didn't grow up on."

Black Hat knew he shouldn't feel nostalgic at this moment, but he couldn't help remembering about the past. "Plane crash", "remote area", "only survivor"… those words really haunted him because of how much they reminded him of _her._

"One day, I was lying on the streets. I was homeless and starving to death, so I thought my life would end that day. But when I woke up after being unconscious, I found myself lying on a nice bed. That was when I was told that Mr. Alvizo took me to his house. They promised me food, drinks and a place to stay, but under the condition that I worked there as a maid. Of course, that wasn't a problem, so I agreed. Things were fine until Adrian started to show interest in me."

Why was that a bad thing, he wondered.

"That might sound like a great thing to some girls. Adrian's the son of a rich businessman, after all. But only the ones working for him know the truth. He's an absolute _molester._ "

"M- Molester?" Black Hat was sure his heart just skipped a beat for a second there. "Are you saying that…"

"Yes." She gulped. "I don't know if Mr. and Mrs. Alvizo knew about this, but ever since my very first day on the job, I'd started to notice that he liked to tease other maids a lot. I just brushed it off, thinking that it was just a harmless thing, because when I was still going to school, there were countless boys who often joked around with girls too. But after I turned sixteen, he began staring at me more and wasn't afraid to show it. And then one day when I brought tea for him, he… he pulled me so that I… I was sitting on his laps and s- started f- flirting with m- me…"

" _You were just a little kid when you just arrived, but now you've grown into such a fine woman." Adrian had on a wide smirk as he let out a low chuckle, gripping her waist to hold her tighter to his chest and trailing his hand along her back. "I'm bored of those typical maids. They can't compare to such curves you have here…"_

She shivered from the flashbacks as she hugged herself, not noticing that her boss had a very angry look on his face. His teeth gritted and his hands clenched, gripping his pants quite harshly. Even though he had used to be that kind of man who liked to mess around with different women, he only did it when they had approved of it. Adrian, this shameless man, how could he just do it without her consent?! Black Hat was sure that this wasn't the end of it.

"Because of this, many maids have quitted their job, but I- I was stuck there with him because I had nowhere to go…" Her voice started to shake as well, her hands trembling. "The bad thing was that he really knew how to hide his unacceptable behaviors from his parents this time, so it was clear that I was a serious target. My colleagues were very worried about me but couldn't do anything about it. All they could do was to give me emotional support. Then, half a year later, he told everyone that I was officially his girlfriend without even asking me."

_Dear Satan, just when I thought this guys couldn't get any more disgusting!_ That was what went though her boss's mind, though he still tried to hold it in.

"And after that, I had two people I had to deal with: him and his mother. Mrs. Alvizo wanted him to marry an elite lady whose family was rich and superior, so they fought a lot after she heard about his decision. She gave up after a month, but that didn't mean she would give up on torturing me. She forced me to learn how to walk properly with my back straight and my head high, eat with tiny bites and drink each drop of water elegantly like a princess, dance until my feet bleed and talk with roses spilling out of my lips. She made me go through all that just because she wanted me to be 'worthy enough to be with Adrian', which wasn't even my choice in the first place!"

Black Hat really wanted to say something to express his anger, but once again, he stayed silent. It was clear that she had had to suffer a lot, so it was better to give her a chance to let it all out.

"Adrian wasn't helping the situation either. On the outside, he said he gave me new dresses because I was now his girlfriend and no longer a maid. But no one knew his true intention. He dressed me up as he saw fit because he wanted to turn me into his- his personal _doll._ "

"D- _Doll_?" Now Black Hat couldn't stay quiet any longer. This had gone too far. "Is that why he called you his doll a while ago?!"

"It- It's horrible!" She was on the verge of tears. "I barely had any privacy. He would come into my room whenever he felt like it. And then he would… he would…"

The rest of the words wasn't able to get out of her mouth, so she trailed off and left it there, letting the eldritch interpret the details by himself.

" _Come on, my dolly. Why do you keep struggling?" Adrian whispered as he pinned her to the wall. "Is it because you're afraid that someone'd walk in? Don't worry, I've locked the door and no one dares come in without my permission. Don't you forget that this is my house."_

_He held the hem of her skirt and began lifting it up. His other hand held her shoulder and his teeth approached her neck, ready to take a bite, but then stopped midway._

" _Argh!" He groaned loudly in frustration. "This fucking thing again! Always ruining the mood!"_

"D- Did he-" Black Hat exclaimed, holding back himself when he was about to grip her shoulders. "Did he… force himself on you?"

She knew what he meant by that, but she shook her head. "He had _tried_ countless time, but he never succeeded."

Even though he was glad to hear that his assumption was wrong, he couldn't help questioning about it. "That's a relief, but why? Was there always someone around?"

"No, sir. He always tried to pursue me in somewhere private. And even if there was somebody there, he'd just tell them to go away unless they were his parents." She looked up at the ceiling for a while as she started to wonder about it as well. "But there was always this strange thing that happened."

"And that was?" He couldn't stop his curiosity.

"I still haven't figured out what it was yet, but whenever Adrian tried to take it to the next level, he was stopped by this weird… aura." She really had a hard time deciding on what to call it. "It turned him off every time."

"I don't usually believe in this stuff, but I think there's someone out there looking out for you."

"That was exactly what he thought, funny enough." She suddenly chuckled at the coincidence. "I'm not allowed to say the G-word, but that was who he thought was stopping him for two entire years. I thought I was safe until he declared that we were getting married, and I had just turned eighteen at that time. So, that was when I became his fiancé. He said that if we got married legally, the aura around me would disappear."

"Wow…" Black Hat gasped in amazement. "He's really a dumbass."

"Lord Black Hat…" She looked at him straight in the eyes. "People say that you're cruel, but… you've actually saved my miserable life by coming to take me away as a paid-off debt."

He was speechless for a while before speaking up again. "How's that a good thing?"

"I know I kind of contradicted myself, but…" She fidgeted with her fingers. "Even though it wasn't pleasant to be taken away just because of an unpaid debt, I now realize that living here is better than staying with that horrible family. Boss, that day, if you'd chosen Adrian instead of me, I would've continued living in hell. Mrs. Alvizo would've surely kicked me out because she had no reason to keep me there anymore. I would've wandered mindlessly on the streets until I found a job or died of starvation and thirst."

She unconsciously raised her hand up to slightly touch her mask, her fingers quivering a little when they made contact with the mask's cold surface.

"You really rescued me from that horrible man, sir. You came right when the wedding preparation was almost finished, so if you'd come later, then I… I don't know what would've happened to me. I was slowly losing my true self as each day went by. Exactly like a toy, he customized me to his own liking. He forced me to wear contact lenses because he preferred green eyes. He made me wear this dress because he wanted me to show more of my skin. Yet, he said my scars disgusted him, so he told me to wear this mask and put on skin concealer so that I could look more 'appealing' to him."

"He…" Black Hat was stunned. "He was destroying your body as he wished. How could he…"

"That's why I never wanted to see him again, sir." She mumbled. "He never saw me as anything more than his plaything. You may be strict, you may only see me as a nobody, but at least you haven't driven me to the verge of self-destruction. At least you haven't pressured me into completely changing myself."

Tears began to roll down her eyes, but when she looked up at him, on her face was a smile. She held his hand as she spoke up with a soft a small voice.

"You may not believe me, but you're truly my savior, and I sincerely mean it from the bottom of my heart."


	9. Touch

"H- How do I look…?"

Riona's voice was heard as she shyly stepped out of the changing room. On her was no longer her usual blue dress, as it had been replaced by a new one – a knee-length black dress with white sleeves that reached her elbows. At her collar was a black bow and on her left chest was a pin in the shape of a top hat, representing the organization she worked at.

"Do you like it?"

Black Hat asked, ignoring her question. Being questioned so suddenly, she paused for a moment, checking her dress in the process. Wearing this made her feel kind of strange, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't pleased with the result. She absolutely loved the ruffles at the hem of the dress, the big white bow at the back and its modern look that was mixed with a little bit of Victorian style. It gave her a very refreshing and cute look.

"Yes, I like it a lot." She gave her boss a big and genuine smile.

Upon hearing the answer he wanted, Black Hat turned over to the designer and paid her, dismissing her afterward and telling 5.0.5 to send her off.

"Um, Black Hat sir…" Ermano spoke up hesitantly. "May I ask why you suddenly wanted to change her outfit?"

"Well…" It seemed like Black Hat was having a hard time trying to come up with a reasonable answer, as if he was rethinking his words over and over again. "I think her old outfit lacks the… professional and elegant vibe, which won't be appealing to our clients."

Ermano wordlessly glanced over Demencia and looked at her from head to toe. The lizard girl in question then got the hint and gave him an offended expression.

" _Plus…_ " Black Hat added after catching on what Ermano was implying as well. "I don't think blue fits our organization's theme, so I want to change it."

"But you were fine with it until now-"

The scientist shut his mouth up as the eldritch's dark aura emitted from his glare.

"It seems to me that you do like to question about trivial things, don't you?"

"I'm- I'm- I'm sorry, boss!" Ermano trembled as he pleaded. "P- Please spare me! I'll keep silent, I swear!"

_That's one of the many advantages of being the superior one, I guess,_ Riona sweated as she looked at the way Black Hat returned to his old self, acting as if he hadn't almost scared his employee to death just now. _If you hate being questioned, you can just tell them to shut up._

"That reminds me…" Black Hat turned his attention back to that same employee once more, his voice low. "Don't you have a product that's due tomorrow?"

The way Ermano gulped could clearly be seen.

"Stop playing around and g _et back to work!"_

Black Hat shouted and pointed to the door which Ermano rushed to and slammed behind his back. Just when the room was about to get quiet, he turned to Demencia.

"And you, go buy some groceries. It's your turn today."

"Oh, come on!" Demencia groaned. "I literally just did it two days ago."

"Don't complain and just go." A grunt of annoyance from Black Hat was heard. "You're the reason why we run out of groceries so fast, you know."

Pouting, Demencia let out an exasperated sigh before leaving the room while complaining about all sort of things. The remaining two kept their eyes on the doors, listening to her fading voice until it could no longer be heard. Without her and the scientist, the room was completely silent, and awkwardness quietly sneaked in. Feeling uncomfortable, Riona fiddled with her fingers nervously, thinking that she should say something to make the tension go away. But what should she say? She was absolutely bad at breaking the silence, and she desperately searched for her words.

As she did so, she glanced down at her dress, which seemed to make her remember something. When asked by Ermano, Black Hat had simply answered that her old outfit was unsuitable for the organization, but it somehow struck her as odd. What the scientist had said was true - Black Hat had never minded what she wore until now. Looking at the way the dress reached her knee and how the sleeves completely covered her shoulders, she finally came to a realization - the reason why she felt strange wearing this dress was that it wasn't revealing like her previous one. It was long and was able to covered her thighs and shoulders, unlike the old one which completely expose those parts of her body.

The previous baby blue dress was ordered by Adrian, who wanted her to turn her into a doll and dress her up as he saw fit. He wanted her to bare her body to him as much as possible, and that was why the dress was designed to show those parts that he considered alluring. She was then brought back to the night she told her boss everything about it, making him the only one in the household who knew about it. He must have had this dress made because he was aware of how much the blue dress made her uncomfortable and haunted her, reminding her of how Adrian's disgusting hands had touched her without her consent.

She didn't expect this infamous man to be so... considerate. Thinking about it almost made her cry.

"I… I appreciate what you've done for me, boss. I really do."

She bowed down as she told him her honest thoughts.

Black Hat couldn't help thinking about her words, because he understood the meaning behind them. She wasn't just thanking him for buying her this new dress, it meant way more than that. She was thanking him for discarding one of the items that reminded her of her past and what she had gone through at her old place. She was no longer in the revealing dress that another man forced her to wear. She was no longer that man's plaything. She was now Lord Black Hat's servant, his maid, a girl who had been given a new life as a member of Black Hat's Organization. Just like how she had put on her new dress and put away the old one, she was ready to get over those horrific days and start anew. No one would ever know such a simple thing could mean so much, as it would remain a thing just between the two of them.

Even though he saw that she still had on her mask and skin concealer, he told himself not to question about it. It would take her a while to actually be confident about her appearance and put aside her past for good.

_"P- please d- don't look…!"_

_"To tell you the truth, I've always been ashamed of my face…"_

_"I- I d- don't know why I'm t- telling you this… I'm s- so sorry for my r- rambling-"_

_"P- Please… don't leave me like the others did…"_

Only when Riona was raising an eyebrow at him did he realize that he was spacing out.

"Sir, are you okay?"

Even he himself couldn't answer that question. He wasn't sure if he could tell himself that he was fine, because he knew it was a lie. How could he be fine after his late wife's words flashed over his mind and struck him like a lightning like that? Moreover, those were the words she said after he had yanked that paper bag off her head and discovered the beauty beneath it. Speaking of which, had he been too aggressive back then? He didn't really think much of it at that time. Just like Riona, what if she wasn't ready to show him her face yet? She never complained about it afterward, so he completely forgot about it. Now, he couldn't help but wonder how Riona would react if he snatched that mask away…

He held his forehead and sighed. Not only was he reminded of his wife, but he also thought of doing something bad that would absolutely frighten his maid. And just thinking about that made his head hurt even more. Why would he worried about this servant of his? He had yelled at his other three employess countless times already, and never had he felt guilty about it, not even once. He was the Black Hat, the most powerful villain ever existed in this world. He never hesitated to be ruthless to others.

Well, except _her,_ of course.

Now he was beginning to contradict himself, and he quietly grunted. But still, why would he be afraid that he would scare Riona? No matter how he felt sorry for this girl, there was no reason for him to go easy on her. She was still his servant after all, and she would have to listen to his orders just like her colleagues.

Silently torturing himself and forcing his mind to forget about all those random thoughts, he looked up again and put his hands behind his back, returning to his collected self.

"I'm completely fine." To him, those words seemed forced. Maybe they were. "Do you feel comfortable in this? If you know what I mean, that is."

"Yes, it's really nice. I feel like an actual maid now, not just someone else's personal doll." She bowed down once more, showing her most genuine gratitude. "I'm indebted to your kindness and understanding. I'll forever stay by your side and serve you until the very last breath."

That smile, it was absolutely radiant under the sunshine that was shining through the glass door. And that smile, he had seen it more often lately.

After that day, she seemed happier than before. The gloomy expression on her face was long gone, and a smile was often seen on her lips, even when she was working. She almost looked… relieved, probably because she could finally find someone to trust, even if that person was her boss, of all people.

However, that did not change the fact that she was still a shy girl who was easy to scare, as well as someone who could turn into a mess of awkwardness when put under pressure.

Speak of the devil, there she was, standing on the ladder and dusting the books on top of the shelves. She was as cheerful as always, even humming a joyous tune to herself. The tiredness could not be sensed from her optimistic and gleeful energy, and she went on working like it was one of her hobbies. This was such a drastic change in her attitude, but it was better this way, which made Black Hat secretly smile on the inside.

Hearing her boss's footsteps, she turned her head and looked down at him.

"Oh, good morning, Lord Black Hat-"

She cut her off when the ladder began to move and made her lose balance. In the matter of seconds, her feet was no longer touching the ladder, which caused her to become aware that she was falling down. A yelp was heard from her, who then readied herself for the pain. But then, no pain came, and instead she landed on something that wasn't the floor.

She landed on her boss's chest.

Instead of getting up immediately like she had done when she fell onto Ermano back then, she found herself staring into those narrow eyes of the man underneath her. And just like that, the man in question was unaware of the fact that he was looking deeply into those green eyes of hers. It had just been seconds, but it felt like eternities, both of them not averting their gaze and kept it glued to each other. She could feel his heart beating along hers, butterflies fluttering in her stomach as she did so. There was a light red blush on her face and her heartbeat increased.

How long had she been unaware of his attractive features?

She couldn't stop herself from taking in his mysterious and deep eyes, the eyes whose color was as beautifully dark as the starry night sky. His face was in a nice shape with perfect jawline, and his shoulders were board and wide. How he was also looking straight into her eyes with his gaze fixated on her, it made her heart race and her hands tremble slightly. If he hadn't moved, it was possible that she would have stayed like that forever.

"I- I'm terribly sorry, sir!" Her apology was rushed as she hurriedly got off him. "Are you okay? A- Are you hurt?"

"Relax. I'm totally fine." Black Hat replied as he propped himself up on his elbows. "I should be the one to ask you those questions."

"I'm okay." She looked down at the ground as she fiddled with her fingers, an embarrassed expression visible on her face. "I really sorry, boss. I'm so careless..."

"From the moment I saw you tip-toeing, I knew something's gonna go wrong. Remember that you're in high heels." He then glanced down at her feet at the mention of her shoes. "Did you sprain your ankles or something?"

"Um, n- no-"

Once again, she cut herself off, but this time it was because of something quite unexpecting. In fact, it was so unexpecting that she froze for a few seconds.

Her boss had touched her ankle before withdrawing his hand like he just realized what he was doing.

"I apologize." He coughed into his hand. "I have no intention of doing bad things to you. I just want to check your ankles."

"It- It's okay, sir." She was in a daze as well after what had just happened. "I understand that you're just concerned."

That, he couldn't really confirm. Up until now, he was still confused about what he had been feeling. For hundred of years, he had been able to get over the death of his wife, and he had not recalled the good memories again. Yet, from time to time, the images of her would come back to his mind and haunt him, and that only happened when certain events happened between him and this girl.

The fall just now was an example. A while ago, he found himself unable to move and utterly speechless. How she laid on top of him, it reminded him of many things. Firstly, it made him remember how Fluggie had accidentally collided into him on the hallway for the first time, and before that day, he had never had a chance to look into her scared and frantic eyes that closely. Secondly, it caused him to recall the way her gorgeous blue eyes had stared into his dark ones as their heart finally reunited, her gaze filled with trust and affection. And thirdly, it made him think back to the nights they spent together. She had often laid on his chest as she let her beautiful dark hair fall over her naked shoulders as she kept her eyes on him, a gentle smile never leaving her face. All he could feel from her was pure love and passion, the truest feelings she had for him.

His head hurt again, causing him to wince a little. Luckily, Riona didn't notice it.

"Right, let me help you get up." He changed the subject, trying to hide the fact that he was extremely troubled by his thoughts.

He extended his hand towards her and waited for her to take it, which she did. The way she held it made his heart skip a beat.

"Anyway, get back to what you're doing." He said with a calm voice. "And be careful next time. I won't be around to save you if you fall again."

With that, he walked past her, not turning his head back to give her a single glance. Her eyes followed his steps until the very moment he had shut the door behind him. As she looked down at the hand she just used to hold his hand, her heart secretly longed for his touch again. Even she was appalled by what her heart wanted, and she shook her head to clear her mind. She breathed in and out, trying to calm her beating heart down. Wishing to feel the notorious Black Hat's heat? That desire was simply outragous. But still, she couldn't help thinking about what she had just experienced. His hand... strangely felt warm, not cold like she had imagined.

Black Hat had always been an unreadable man. Even Ermano, the scientist who had worked for him for many years, admitted it. He was distant, heartless and vicious, uninterested in the world around him unless it involved evil deeds and business opportunities. Yet, when she touched him, when she looked at him, she felt like she could see another side of him, the side that no one had discovered. In his eyes, she could see... loneliness and hopelessness. But why did she feel that way, even before she talked to him about her secrets and became closer to him?

She stared at her hand one more time. The warmth... it was familiar. Had she felt it before? She doubted it, actually. The touch from her parents, it was nice, but it didn't feel the same. It didn't make her heart thump loudly in her chest and caused a dark red blush to tint her cheeks. And she was certain that she didn't get this feeling from the Alvizo family. That mansion was the coldest place she had ever been to, and no one had ever given her the same warmth, especially not Adrian.

She sighed, tired from thinking so much.


	10. Mysteries

"Wait, what did you just say, Ermano?"

"Lord Black Hat's family's going to visit next week." Ermano repeated his words like Riona had requested him to, all the while still focusing on the tube he was holding in his hand. "I overheard him talking on the phone a while ago. Oh, and by the way, please don't tell him that I overheard him."

None of that was what Riona cared about. The thing that she was interested in was the fact that her boss _had a family._ Before she met him in person, she had heard people talking about how Black Hat was the reincarnation of all evil, so now hearing that he had a family of his own was… very strange to her ears. Despite that, she somehow found it unsurprising, which made this whole thing even weirder.

After pondering over it for a few seconds, she face-palmed. What was she thinking just now? That whole "reincarnation of evil" thing was just supposed to say how powerful and ruthless he was. It wasn't meant to be taken _literally. Of course_ he had a family. _Of course_ it was normal. That was surely why she thought what Ermano had said wasn't really something shocking, or at least that was what she told herself.

"I think he's about to tell us about it soon, so be prepared and get ready for the load of work you're about to-"

"You two sure love slacking off during work."

Without their knowledge, the eldritch in question had appeared in the lab and scared the ghost out of them, who then immediately returned to whatever they were doing – Riona bolted up from the chair she was sitting on and started sweeping the floor while Ermano frantically pretended to look over his notes on the table. Black Hat sighed in disappointment at the sight of his subordinates before getting back to the matter at hand.

"Listen, my brother just called a while ago." Black Hat said before murmuring something about his brother finally using a smartphone. "He told me that he and my parents will come to visit us next Monday, so I want everything ready by then. Riona, work with 5.0.5 and make sure the manor is clean. Ermano, you clean up Demencia's mess and manage all the traps around the manor. I don't want my family to accidentally activate any of them."

"Why do I have to be the one to clean up Demencia's mess?" Ermano raised an eyebrow at Black Hat. "Shouldn't that be included in Riona and 5.0.5's work?"

"Ermano, do remember that Demencia's mess isn't that of a normal child." Black Hat let out another sigh, a tired one this time. "You know it's killed a person once"

"Oh, alright, sir. Leave it to me."

Ermano nodded as Riona told Black Hat the same thing. Satisfied with their answers, Black Hat vanished into thin air, leaving his employees alone in the lab once again. Ermano exhaled as he plopped down his chair, holding his forehead in the process.

"When will he stop appearing out of nowhere like this? It scares the hell out of me every time."

As Ermano went on rambling about it, Riona just stood there in silence and recalled Black Hat's words. For some reason, she was more excited than nervous, hoping that the day her boss's family came would arrive as soon as possible. Truth be told, she couldn't understand why she was feeling that way, but she wa sn't complaining. At least she wouldn't be freaking out when that day came.

* * *

"Oh come on! You're no fun!"

"No means no!" Ermano's voice was serious as he tried to take the laser gun away from Demencia's hands. "Mr. Black Hat's ordered me to keep the manor safe. I'd lose my head if something ever happens to his family."

"It's just a prank." Demencia protested. "Come on, it'll fun!"

Like two children fighting over a toy, each of them kept yanking backward, doing their best to pull the said weapon away from the other's hands. They would have continued to go on like that forever if the doorbell hadn't rung.

"It must be them- Hey!" Demencia turned her head to the direction of the front door before letting out a yell when she realized she had accidentally let her guard down. "Give it back!"

_Mr. Black Hat will kill you if he sees you like this,_ the thought crossed Riona's mind as she walked by her colleagues. She was seriously concerned for their lives, wondering how her boss would react if he ended up seeing Ermano and Demencia fighting instead of greeting guests. But she didn't really have time to think about it right now. If she didn't hurry up, she would be the very first person to get punished. It was a good thing that Ermano had taught her to deactivate the front door's security system for special guests and clients, otherwise she would have absolutely had no idea how to operate it. It wasn't as if she didn't know how to use it. It was just that… somehow in her mind, the way it was done was entirely different. Up until now, the reason was still unknown.

After turning off all the traps and seeing that her guests had arrived at the main entrance, she rushed to open the door for them.

"Welcome, Mom and Dad-"

She cut herself off when she realized what she had just said.

"Um…" The woman in an elegant pink dress raised an eyebrow at her. "May I ask what you just used to address us?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Hat! W- Welcome to the Manor, Mr. and Mrs. Hat!"

Emerald looked up at Zairus, who gave her a confused stare back. Meanwhile, Riona was cursing at herself like there was no tomorrow. What the _hell_ did she just blurt out? There was absolutely _nothing_ that could explain why she suddenly call them Mom and Dad, out of _all things_ she could have used to call them. Moreover, the words just came out her mouth so seamlessly, as if she had gotten used to it ages ago. Great, Riona. _Great job._ It was your first time meeting your boss's family and you just decided to blow it right away.

After a few moments, Emerald cleared her throat and tried to smile, acting like nothing strange had just happened. "I apologize. I must've misheard you, dear."

She said it, but the awkwardness was still lingering there somehow.

"Hey, I don't recognize you. Are you new?" Once again, White Hat came to the rescue by breaking the uncomfortable air surrounding them, poking his head out from behind Zairus.

"Ah, yes, I'm new here." She nodded eagerly, silently thanking him non-stop for helping her change the subject. "And may I ask who you are, sir?"

"I'm White Hat, Black Hat's younger twin brother."

Just like what he would do to any new lady he met, he held Riona's hand and proceeded to plant a kiss onto her hand. However, before he even had a chance to bend his body down, he sensed _that_ vibe, the dark yet familiar vibe from Black Hat that was always used to scare White off when they were little.

Something struck White as odd, making him stop in his track. This whole thing seemed familiar.

"Ah, you've arrived."

Black Hat's voice startled all of them. When exactly did he come here, none of them had any idea, but it was very clear that the look he was giving White was not a pleasant one.

"Long time no see, brother." White put up a happy-go-lucky smile as he withdrew his hand away from hers. "What's with that face? I'm just simply introducing myself to this young lady here."

"She's my new maid." Black Hat answered in a rather irritated manner.

"Would you mind if I ask for your name?" White gave Riona a friendly smile, ignoring his brother's words.

"M- My name is Riona Flores." Riona found it very hard to speak with Black Hat's eyes on her, but she had to reply because it would be rude of her if she didn't do so. She had no idea why Black Hat was so protective of her and she didn't dare ask. However, even if she had asked him, he wouldn't have had a satisfactory answer for her, as he himself didn't know why either.

"That's a nice name you have there, miss." White gave her a smile before looking up at his brother, his smile changing into a questioning look. "It's kind of unexpected of you to get a new maid, Black. I remember you said that just 5.0.5 was enough."

"It's a long story."

Black Hat ended it at that, as though to drop hints that he didn't like being asked about it, and neither would he tell White everything. The silence between the twins would have lasted forever if it hadn't been for Riona, who quickly invited everyone to come into the house and offer to help with their luggage.

But White wasn't going to give up there. He admitted that he was a curious person, but even if he hadn't been, he would have still been determined to find out everything himself. This whole thing wasn't something he could just ignore. He knew this girl wasn't just some typical maid, judging by how Black acted around her. Some people just treated their servants as… well, servants, not someone so important in their life. Some were so heartless that they were willing to sell their servants. Yet here Black was, being so protective of Riona that it could make anyone misunderstand that she was secretly his lover. His infamous brother must have forgotten how perceptive he could get, proven by how in the past, he had easily concluded that his previous scientist was his girlfriend and the mother of his child.

"Here's your tea and cake, sir."

Speak of the devil, there Riona was, gently putting down the tea set and a slice of cake in front of him. The cake was also one of the important elements that made White so skeptical. Yesterday, when he just arrived at the Manor, she had served everyone cakes when it was time for desserts. The moment the taste of it reached White's tongue, his eyes widened as his heart skipped a beat. It tasted _exactly_ likethe cake Fluggie had made for him whenever he came over to visit. And to be honest, the cake was the reason he kept coming over, to Black Hat's dismay. After eight hundred years, yesterday was the first time he had gotten the chance to eat it again. In fact, he was so shocked that he felt a need to confirm the taste once more. Thus today, while he was sitting in the Manor's garden to look after Black's children, he had told Riona to make the same cake for him, and she had gladly done so without any question.

"Thank you, Riona." He smiled at her as she poured him a cup of tea. "Say, why don't you take a seat and have some tea with me?"

She seemed taken aback a little at the sudden request. "I- Is it alright to do so, sir?"

"Yes, it's alright. We can watch over your boss's kids, and some company would be nice right now."

After a few seconds thinking about it, she nodded and sat down. She definitely wasn't aware of his true intention.

"The weather's nice today, perfect for outdoor activities." White started before he stealthily started to guide the conversation to where he wanted it to go. "It's been a while since the two kids got to stay at their dad's place, so I let them play as much as they want."

"They do seem very happy." Riona looked over the children in question before returning her attention to him. "I didn't know Mr. Black Hat had such adorable children. How old are they, sir?"

"Well… Let me see…" White thought as he took a sip of tea. "The big one, Ryan, is eight hundred and seven years old. The younger one, Iris, is eight hundred and five. But in human year, they'll be respectively eight and six."

"Oh my, they're _way_ older than I thought." A chuckle was heard from Riona. "So, they age very slowly like my boss. I guess that their mother's immortal too, isn't she?"

White paused for a moment. Even though he was the one who set this whole conversation up so that she would ask that question out loud, he couldn't help but get a little surprised. Maybe he was similar to his brother, who found it very hard to talk about Fluggie even after such a long time. He took in a deep breath before continuing.

"Actually…" He stared down at his cup with a nostalgic look. "She was, by no means, immortal. She was just a normal human, exactly like you."

"She… _was?_ "

He glanced up at her, his gaze serious and his monocle gleaming sharply under the warm sunlight.

"She was no more, and it wasn't because of old age or an illness."


	11. What He Left Behind

"She was no more, and it wasn't because of old age or an illness."

White Hat fell silent, silently observing the girl sitting across from him. As expected, on her face was a shocked face, but she… didn't look _that_ shocked? White was having difficulty reading her expression. While she looked surprised, she also seemed like she had expected him to say it, like someone who had already known the answer but pretended otherwise.

"What do you mean, sir?" Riona's voice was quiet as she spoke. "Don't tell me that…"

White nodded slowly, his eyes closing as he forced the words out of his mouth. "She was murdered."

Riona let out a gasp as she covered her mouth, but once again, White had no idea if she was really shocked. "Th-That's horrible… I'm, I'm very sorry for asking."

"It's okay, it happened long ago. Eight hundred years ago, to be exact," White said and took another sip of tea. "I advise you not to speak of his late wife when your boss's around, though I'm sure you've already figured that out yourself."

"I won't. I know how painful it is to lose your loved one." Riona mumbled, biting her lips as she recalled the moment she found out she had lost her parents to a plane crash. She could remember how the world around her had crumbled after that discovery, so she imagined how much pain her boss had had to go through. Was that the reason behind the sorrow she could find in his eyes whenever she looked into them?

"Sir, I don't mean to pry, but…" she continued, breaking the short silence between them. "May I ask if you know what exactly happened?"

This girl was really messing with White's head. On one hand, she looked like she had already known everything. But on the other hand, she appeared surprised and curious. Which side of hers should he believe?

"Well, I do know. But I have to warn you that some details may scare you." He tried to push his thoughts away as he replied, deciding to go on when he saw Riona nod. "Mr. Black Hat has many enemies, but not many of them dare to challenge him, except for one particular organization—The Red Mask Organization. The Manor's known for having a very tight security system, but it somehow couldn't detect their assassin as a threat. As a result, Mr. Black Hat's wife, who was also his scientist at the time, let him in. The assassin requested that they let him see all the organization's products, so Mr. Black Hat and his wife did what he asked them to. He waited for them to let their guard down before attacking them. It turned out that his weapons are stored inside him."

"So… he hid them in his clothes?"

"If that'd been the case, the security system could've identified him as a threat." White paused, seemingly thinking carefully about what he should say next. "I don't mean to horrify you, but his weapons were _literally_ inside him, like they were his own organs. When he attacked them, his weapons… how do I say this, sprouted from inside him and through his skin. You can say he was a biological weapon, a very advanced one."

White watched the way the colors fade from Riona's face, though he couldn't blame her for feeling terrified. He himself was also in disbelief when he heard about it at first.

He decided to continue talking to steer her attention away from the terrorizing mental image that was probably going through her head right now. However, she didn't seem like she was imagining it—she looked like she was actually recalling that moment as a person who had seen it firsthand. Again, this puzzled White, but he tried to ignore it and continued talking, even though he was afraid to get to this part of the story.

"Anyway, despite being caught off guard, they were still to defend themselves. But then, the assassin suddenly split into two, and before both of them could do anything, his clone had stabbed Mr. Black Hat's wife from the back," White stopped, wondering if he should reveal the last detail, "right through her heart."

Flinching, Riona touched her chest at where her heart was. To White, she looked like she was experiencing the pain, and unbeknownst to him, his observation was correct—she actually just felt a sharp sting at her heart, like a very sharp blade just stabbed through her heart and flesh. The pain felt so real that she had to look down to see if there was actually any blood or injuries there.

"I guess Mr. Black Hat was angry, right?" She managed to talk again after she had found her voice.

"To say that he was angry is an understatement—he was _more_ than outraged. There's actually no accurate word to describe how furious he was." White stared at his tea, thinking for a brief second before looking up again. "He told me when he saw his wife lie there motionlessly, something clicked in him, and his demonic power arose. He killed the assassin and its clone in seconds. After seeing The Red Mask's logo flashing on the assassin's glasses, he teleported to their headquarter and killed everyone there before moving on to finding and killing the remaining members who had managed to escape. He basically went on a killing spree. After that, all that people talked about was the massacre at The Red Mask Organization, but they didn't know it was Mr. Black Hat who did it until two years later, when he decided to reveal it to the public. Me, Mr. and Mrs. Hat were the first people to know about this, since Mr. Black Hat was willing enough to tell us about the whole story not long after it happened.

"I've never seen him so tearful until that day. His words also hit me hard, so hard that I can still remember each word clearly—'I've killed everyone from that organization, I've got my revenge, but no matter what I do, I'll never get her back. I was too slow and failed to protect her, so now, she's gone forever. I can find a woman who looks exactly like her, but that woman will never be able to fill in the empty hole in my heart. Only _she_ can do it, and she'd be the only person in this world who was capable of doing so.'"

Both of them fell silent and stared down at the ground, though White brief glanced up to observe Riona again. Her expression was unreadable just like before, but he could see a mix of sadness and pain in it. She was probably feeling sorry for her boss, though there was something else in her eyes that he couldn't quite grasp.

"Thank you for telling me, sir." On her lips was a bitter smile as she gripped her dress, which White didn't miss. "I didn't know such horrible things happened to them."

"Yes, it was indeed tragic. Although Mr. Black Hat has gotten over it, he's unable to forget about her," White said. "Right after he hired Ermano, the first job he gave him was to completely renew and upgrade the security system. Ermano told me he was confused about why Mr. Black Hat wanted him to do it until he was told about the incident. Mr. Black Hat also asked our parents to take care of Ryan and Iris while he tried to move on from everything."

"Wait, so…" Riona looked over the two children in question, "Ryan and Iris have been staying at Mr. and Mrs. Hat's place for _eight hundred years?_ "

"No, no." White chuckled. "Mr. Black Hat took them back to the Manor after two years, when he was sure he had completely moved on from the trauma. About six months ago, the kids said they wanted to visit their grandparents, so Mr. Black Hat let them stay there. He must've hired you after they were away. Whenever it's time for the kids to go home, me, Mr. and Mrs. Hat would go with them and stay here for a few days."

"Oh, I see—"

Riona cut herself off when she felt someone pulling at her dress. She looked down to see Ryan, who was standing next to her with his sister by his side. She didn't know why, but there was something about these two children that made her sad and nostalgic. The reason was still unknown to her, because when she first met them, she had yet to be told about their parents' tragic story.

"Miss Riona, we're hungry," Ryan said, and Riona chuckled at how he addressed her. She had told him countless times that he only needed to call her by her name alone, since she was just a servant, but he insisted on calling her "Miss Riona" in a respectful manner. It was endearing in a way.

"You two must be tired after playing so much. It's not lunch time yet, but we can get some snacks if you want. Let's go, shall we?" She smiled, standing up before turning over to White. "Please, excuse me, sir."

He gave her a slight nod and watched her taking the kids back inside, narrowing his eyes in the process. Their sight reminded him so much of his sister-in-law with her children, and it made him recall what his mother had told him last night, which was the reason he decided to set up this conversation in the first place.

" _White, come here for a sec…"_

_White, who was walking back to his room to sleep, stopped in his track. He turned back to see his mother, who had a very troubled expression on her face._

" _What is it, Mom?"_

_Emerald glanced back and forth, seemingly to check if they were alone, before whispering into his ear. "Something very strange just happened. You know Riona, the new maid, right?"_

" _Yeah." White nodded._

" _Well, she was cleaning while I was reading in the living room a while ago. Iris had fallen asleep in my arms, so I decided to bring her back to her room. When I stood up, I accidentally woke her up, and when she saw Riona's behind, do you know what she said?"_

_White shook his head, and Emerald took in a deep breath._

" _She called her 'mama'."_

_The words hit White like lightning, making his eyes widen. "Wh-What? She's never called any woman that before."_

" _That's what I'm saying!" Emerald whisper-shouted. "Fluggie passed away when she was just one year old. You still remember how she used to constantly ask where her mom was, don't you? Yet, the first moment she saw that girl, she immediately called her 'mama'. She only realized it wasn't the same person when Riona turned around and showed her face."_

" _Was Black there?"_

" _No, fortunately."_

_White averted his gaze and gasped as he covered his mouth with his hand._

" _Thank goodness Iris was asleep when Riona greeted us at the door this morning. Otherwise, I don't know how Black would've reacted."_


	12. Chapter 12 - Disrupted

The Manor, despite its fancy and calm look, wasn't exactly quiet during the day—the sound of Ermano working in his lab, the sound of Demencia pulling tricks on others and the sound of Black Hat shouting whenever things became too noisy for him to handle or whenever those two got into a fight that resulted in destructions. With Black Hat's children returning to the Manor, things got even busier. However, truth be told, Riona liked it that way. It was noisy, yes, but she definitely preferred it to the eerie atmosphere of the Alvizos' household. In fact, the busy life here had slowly grown on her and this place now almost felt like home to her.

In spite of that, she was also fond of the silence of the Manor at night, when everyone had gone to bed. The exception was Black Hat of course, but he usually just worked quietly in his office, and neither had he woken her up in the middle of the night to do anything for him, which was quite surprising. However, there had been nights where she caught him walking into his own room and stayed there till morning, and the question of what he did in there always appeared in her mind.

At first, she just guessed that he went to sleep—yeah, he said he didn't sleep, but that was the only explanation she could think of at that moment. She kept telling herself that maybe he could sleep but chose not to because it was unnecessary, but soon curiosity got the best of her. Therefore, one night, she decided to stand in front of his room and tried to catch any sound that could indicate what he was doing. What she heard wasn't the sound of him sitting onto his bed, but rather him pulling up a chair and using a glass or tea cup, probably drinking out of it. She had tried this again many other nights and the result was the same. Curiosity kills the cat, and now she couldn't help pondering what he was possibly doing in there. She doubted he was working—he only worked in his office—so what else could he be up to?

Not only that, but in the early morning after such nights, he clearly seemed sad about something. As a maid, Riona was the first to wake up most of the time, so she almost always got to see Black Hat in the morning before anyone else. She did notice that the morning after every night he stayed in his room, there was sorrow visible in his eyes. If Ermano or Demencia showed up, he would tell them to do their jobs and complain about random things like usual, but no matter what he did, he could never hide the sadness behind that grumpy face.

There had been nights where she stood there, idling in front of his bedroom doors and wondering what to do. On one hand, she wanted to ask what was on his mind. Not to gossip about it, not to laugh at him, not to find his weakness and take advantage of it, but rather to help him, to comfort him. Sure, he was scary, a spitting image of hell itself, but maybe that wasn't the only thing about him. Maybe there was another side of him that was rarely or never shown at all. Maybe he was still grieving, still unable to put away his past, still incapable to let go of his late wife. Yes, he said he had moved on, but what if he was still feeling lonely but refused to express his feelings?

But in the end, she just ended up turning on her heels and quietly walking away every time, not wanting to mess things up and ruin the good relationship she had created with her boss. What if there wasn't anything serious going on and he just wanted some peace? What if it was just his habit to just sit there and relax at night? He was a busy businessman after all, so maybe he was just tired from all the work and stress he had to deal with. As she left, she would tell herself that she was simply overthinking it, just so her mind would be at ease.

Then again, that couldn't explain the gloomy look in his eyes. There must be something else, something more than what met the eyes. If only there was a way to really confirm what was actually going on…

"Riona."

"Y-Yes?" Riona stumbled over her words, almost knocking over the bucket of water next to her feet. That was when she realized she had been spacing out while cleaning the vases. But the questions she had were too puzzling to ignore.

Black Hat raised his eyebrow at her, seemingly wondering why she looked nervous upon seeing him. However, there was that wretchedness in his eyes again, but before she had time to think about it, he spoke, cutting her lines of thoughts. "This might be a strange request, so I'd like it if you didn't question about it."

She gave him a nod and let him continue, though he had to pause and take in a deep breath beforehand. It was like he was reconsidering it carefully and mentally preparing himself.

"Would you mind staying up and working overtime a little tonight?"

"Um, no, sir." It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. His behaviors were very strange. Normally he would just be straightforward about what he wanted her to do. Why did he feel the need to consider her availability today?

He took in yet another deep breath. "Could you make me some tea and bring it to my room tonight? At about eleven o'clock. Don't have to be at that exact time. A bit sooner or later is fine."

Riona was having a hard time processing this whole thing. It wasn't about how Black Hat was being so nice today that it made her wonder if it was really her boss or White Hat dressed in black. No, that wasn't important right now. What absolutely stunned her was how perfect his request was. Did someone from above understand her frustration and decide to give her a chance to get rid of it?

"Yes, sir."

And with that, he disappeared behind the corner, leaving her there confused. Therefore, when she woke up at ten fifteen PM and went to make his tea, she was so anxious about what was heading her way that she forgot to put on something that she always wore.

* * *

"Come in."

Black Hat deep voice could be heard behind the twin doors, giving Riona permission to enter. After taking in a deep breath, she walked into the room to witness a magnificent scene. There Black Hat was with his back facing her as his eyes gazed out of the scenery through the glass walls. He looked so peaceful, so deep in thought that all she could do was to stand there speechlessly and admire the sight before her eyes until his voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Riona, isn't it?" He asked without turning his head back, as if he already knew it could only be her. Not waiting for her to answer, he briefly glanced down at his watch before continuing. "Eleven o'clock sharp, huh? I did say you didn't need to come right at eleven, didn't I?"

"Well, it's become my nature now, sir." Riona chuckled, trying to break the silence between them as she placed the tray onto the small tea table which was opposite from his bed. Now she knew why she heard the sound of him pulling a chair. "I'm a member of the Black Hat Organization. What am I if I don't come at the exact given time?"

She had expected him to let out an annoyed sigh, because that was what he did all the time. He generally didn't like humor—normal humor at least, as he laughed like there was no tomorrow whenever he saw someone getting brutally injured in a movie. So whenever she tried to lighten up the mood with a light-hearted joke, the most positive reaction she could ever get out of him was a snort—the worst reaction would be him straight up using his tentacle to throw her out of the room out of annoyance, like what he had done with Demencia. Therefore, she was stunned once more when a small laugh from him was heard. Not his iconic, evil laugh, but rather a genuinely amused laugh. That laugh was so warm, so different that she almost let out a small gasp out of amazement. However, somehow this laugh felt familiar to her. It was strange because she was certain she had never heard it before, but a part of her mind said otherwise.

"Perhaps that is one of the unique traits of a person who's truly worthy of being a member here, just like you—"

He finally turned around, and for split second, she caught a glimpse of his once again different smile, a smile that was full of fondness, until it disappeared as soon as it made an appearance. Not only did that beautiful smile fade away from his face, but his eyes also shot open, his pupils narrowing and his hands clutching his chest at where his heart was. His claws tore his gloves and gripped his shirt so hard that he almost ripped it apart. Only after Riona had let out a shout and run to his side was he able to snap out of it.

"Lord Black Hat! A-Are you alright? Lord Black Hat!" Riona said with a shaking voice as she held his shoulder, frantically trying to think of something to help him before she felt him squeezing her hand.

"I'm, I'm okay…" he replied between each heavy breath as he did his best to calm his racing heart down. "I-It's just that… your, your eyes…"

Riona raised an eyebrow before catching her reflection in the glass window, which caused her to let out a loud gasp as she covered her mouth in shock.

Her eyes were blue.

She forgot to put on her contact lenses.

"Oh, Oh my—I'm, I'm so sorry, sir!" She turned away, trying to hide her face as she struggled to speak. What could her eyes possibly have that gave him a breakdown? Her body started shaking as the only explanation she could think of ran through her mind—were they really so ugly that her boss was reacting that way? Was Adrian right all along, about how her blue eyes looked terrible? Biting her lips, she decided to ask a question to confirm her suspicion. Black Hat was an honest man who wouldn't be afraid to give her a definitive answer, so she knew she wouldn't be getting a white lie. However, deep down, she was scared to hear it.

"S-Sir, is there something about my eyes that, that—"

"N-No…" Black Hat held one of her shoulders, making her turn her head back. On him was no longer a panicking expression, but rather a sad one, even though he was still in the process of slowing his breathing down. "There's nothing wrong with them. They're…"

He paused for a good few seconds, hesitating as he tried to force the words out of his mouth.

"They're beautiful."

The moment Black Hat finally said it, both of them fell into silent, but Riona's heart wasn't exactly calm. It was beating rapidly in her chest. She was unable to muster a single thing as if his words just hit her hard, and maybe they did. Holding his hands, she helped him stand up and he proceeded to use his magic to fix his gloves and shirt. With a snap of his fingers, they became as good as new like nothing happened, but the silence between them proved that something did happen. The whole time neither of them dared to look at each other—Riona's gaze were on the floor as she lightly gripped her apron, all the while Black Hat's eyes were looking out to the scenery, but he actually couldn't focus on it at all. At this moment, he would rather look at the floor, the ceiling, the wall… basically anywhere, anything and anyone that wasn't his maid, who seemed to be equally flustered.

"Lord Black Hat…" She was finally able to gather some courage to break the silence. "D-Did you mean what, what you said?"

 _What kind of question was that, Riona?_ she shouted at herself in her mind. _You couldn't have chosen a better question? Why didn't you choose to ask if he was okay? Wait, do you really think he was truly complimenting you a while ago? How pathetic. Even Ermano, his own scientist, rarely gets complimented by Mr. Black Hat no matter how smart and talented he is. Do you think a mere maid like you is worthy of his praises—_

"Yes."

It was just one simple word, but it had the power to make Riona snap out of her thoughts. Still in denial, she slowly looked up from the ground and spoke with a voice so soft that it almost sounded like a whisper.

"Sir, please, don't say jokes like that."

"I'm not joking." It was only at this moment that he was able to look straight at her. "They're beautiful, Riona. I really can't see the need to make them green. Sure, green is a nice color, but your eyes are already so pretty in its original color. Adrian, that fool, he doesn't know how to appreciate true beauty."

The whole time Black Hat was saying that, on him was a serious expression. There was no hint of mockery or sarcasm in his eyes or tone, despite how hard Riona tried to search for it. All she could ever find was sincerity and honesty. Without realizing it, a light shade of red had tinted her cheeks. Thankfully, her mask had covered it.

Speaking of mask, Black Hat now felt extremely curious about this piece of accessory. Her blue eyes were so similar to hers. In fact, they looked so similar that they were almost identical. The color that was as blue as the ocean, the big, almond shape that gave her eyes their elegance, the long and dark eyelashes… They looked alike in every single aspect, which made him refuse to believe that this was purely a coincidence or that it was his imagination. There was an uneasy yet nostalgic feeling in his heart that he couldn't quite shake, but he decided that just her eyes alone wasn't enough for him to conclude it was the same person. Besides, it was impossible. She was long gone. She was no more. He had seen it with his very own eyes, seen her lying there lifelessly. There was no way it was her.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder what was hidden under that mask of hers. Would he discover her real charm, just like the beauty of her eyes?

"T-Thank you so much, sir…" she mumbled, pulling him away from his thoughts. "I really appreciate it."

"Don't thank me. I was just being honest." He nonchalantly replied, which caused her to blush even more. "You remind me of someone I knew, Riona."

"Who is it, sir?"

He was clearly hesitant, but if he had to be completely honest, it felt easy to tell her the truth more than anyone else, even his own family. "It's my late wife. She also had blue eyes, beautiful blue eyes, but she hid them away because she was ashamed of her appearance."

Riona let out a small gasp. Had he, Black Hat himself, really decided to tell her about his late wife even though he had forbidden the world to talk about it centuries before she was even born?

"Your… late wife?" She wasn't shocked about the fact that he used to have a wife—that, she had already known from White Hat. She was instead shocked that he chose her, out of all people, to confide this to. He didn't seem forced or uncomfortable either. It was like this was his own decision and he felt completely fine with it.

He gave her a nod before retelling the story White Had had told her before, but this time, she got to hear it from him, someone who actually witnessed it, and the story sounded even more depressing. He not only talked how horrifying that experience was, but also how immense the pain was. She was his soul mate, his dearest, so losing her was like losing a part of himself. Nothing could amount to the emotional struggle he had had to go through. The heartache, it was too much for him to handle.

"That was when I had a taste of how it felt to lose someone you love," he said with his gaze full of sorrow. "It was even more agonizing when I saw her slowly inching to death but could do nothing about it. I felt helpless. I was too late, too slow to save her. It was the worst feeling I had ever experienced.

"I felt guilty of lying to my family about having forgotten her completely. Yes, I've moved on, but her image still haunts me. The Manor feels much emptier without her presence. Before I fell in love with her, I'd go to the bar and enjoy other women's company when I feel unhappy. But now, I don't want any woman except her, so whenever I'm reminded of her, I turn to my other form of enjoyment…"

He trailed out before using his magic to open something. Her eyes followed the direction which the clattering sound came from and saw a cupboard underneath his bed opening, revealing many bottles of wine inside it. The realization hit her hard. So what he had been drinking on those nights was…

"Lord Black Hat… I'm, I'm sorry to hear that…" Riona was on the verge of tears, though she was unsure why she wanted to cry. Yes, she indeed felt sad for her boss, but she somehow felt like that wasn't the only reason. Before she could properly think about it, she felt something touching the corner of her eye, wiping her tears away. It was his hand, his warmth spreading all over her.

"Please, don't cry." His voice was gentle as he pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Your tears will hinder your beauty."

"Sir, why…?" she said in a soft voice. "Why did you choose me to confide in? I'm merely a servant. I'm not worthy of your trust."

"Yes, you are, Riona." He held her shoulders as he stared into her eyes. "I always believe in my gut instinct, and I know you're the right one to give my trust to. You've also talked to me about your past after all. We've listened to each other's troubles and we've comforted one another. That's truly a beautiful thing."

He paused for a few seconds, but his gaze never left her. With an even quieter voice, he continued. "I think there's mutual trust between us, as well as a bond that I find difficult to break, that I have come to cherish. Don't you think so too?"

Her answer was a "yes", a clear, unhesitant "yes". She was sure of her answer. She did trust the man standing in front of her, the man she had worried about, the man who, despite his power and scary appearance, also had many struggles to go through. Since when did she start to care so much for him, she did not know, but there was one thing she was sure of, and perhaps he shared that same thing too. It was evident in the way he was looking at her.

"Riona, for the first time for eight hundred years, I can finally feel it again, and you're the one who made it arise in my heart once more…"

Reaching up one hand to hold Riona's chin, Black Hat slowly leaned in as he took hold of her mask, carefully lifting it up. She didn't resist or try to stop him in anyway. She was certain of how she felt and she wasn't going to deny it any longer.

However, his hand suddenly came to a halt. Confused about what could possibly be stopping him from removing her mask, she spoke.

"Sir, what's wr—"

"Those scars…"

Without any warning, he yanked the mask off her face forcefully, eliciting a yelp from her. As the mask hit the cold floor with a small thud, Riona slowly glanced up to look at her boss. For some reason, she was afraid to see what about to come her way, and indeed she was right for feeling scared.

Black Hat's body was shaking again, his eyes shot open and his breathing heavy, exactly like when he first saw her eyes without contact lenses. But this time, he was also backing away slowly, his eyes never leaving her as he did so. She panicked and was going to come to her boss's side before he heard him whispering. It was barely audible, but in a silent room in the middle of the night, she could hear it as clear as day.

"F-Fluggie?"

**Author's Note:**

> Other writers start a sequel with a perfectly fine scene with little or no hints of sadness.
> 
> And then there's me.
> 
> So… welcome to the sequel! This comes out earlier than expected, so I'm glad about it.
> 
> Welp, way to start a sequel. See you in the next chapter!


End file.
